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Surface and groundwater resources in the general area of the mine <br />are limited. There is little development of resources. Those <br />resources which are developed are limited in scope and in quantity. <br />A few wells have been constructed into the fine grain sandstones of <br />the Williams Fork Formation or into fractured parts of the Mancos <br />Shale. These wells typically yield less than five gallons per <br />minute (gpm) and their uses are limited to domestic and/or <br />livestock supplies. Surface water development in the region is <br />limited to irrigation and consists of both direct flow and storage <br />rights. Most of the surface water development occurs in the valley <br />of the Yampa River east of Craig, Colorado. However, this general <br />area of the development is many miles from the mine property. <br />Permit Area <br />Groundwater on the Colowyo Mine property occurs under perched <br />conditions in the interbedded and lenticular sandstones of the <br />Williams Fork Formation above the coals to be mined. There is no <br />continuous, regional groundwater system on the property within the <br />stratigraphic section to be mined. Only below the floodplains of <br />Goodspring Creek are the sandstones fully saturated. The <br />• sandstones on the property that store and transmit limited amounts <br />of groundwater above the coals are lenticular and exhibit little <br />lateral continuity. Water stored in these sandstones percolates in <br />a downdip direction by gravity and is discharged to the land <br />surface high in stream cuts as small seeps and springs. The <br />general direction of the groundwater flow on the property is <br />controlled by the geologic structure. No connection between <br />groundwater on the mine property above the mine and surface and <br />groundwater flows in Goodspring and Taylor Creeks has been observed <br />or documented. <br />The lack of a regional groundwater system on the property was <br />documented in a report prepared by Leonard Rice Consulting water <br />Engineers (LRCWE, 1979). That report described an investigation <br />undertaken to determine the impact of mining on the region's water <br />quality. To complete the study, 57 springs and seeps discharging <br />from isolated perched aquifers were located and sampled. The study <br />area included the existing mine faces and pit at the time of <br />mining, and wells and springs that were visited in earlier years. <br /> <br />2.04.7-3 <br />