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significant groundwater resources in and adjacent to the mine area is that residents in the <br />general area haul drinking water from Craig or Meeker. <br />Groundwater is not currently planned for industrial purposes such as watering haul roads or <br />dust control in the loadout facilities. Water for these purposes will be supplied by Wilson <br />Reservoir located in Section 13, T4N, R93W. See Map 32 for the location of [he reservoir <br />and pipeline for conveyance to the mine area. <br />Summary of Groundwater Conditions <br />The coal beds of the Williams Fork Formation that are to be mined are at a high elevation and <br />are truncated by the mining operation to the north, Goodspring Creek to the east and Taylor <br />Creek to the west. As a result, the coals and upper sandstones are drained. Perched aquifers <br />exist in the coals and sandstones, but exhibit little lateral or vertical continuity. Cascading <br />waters from perched zones were encountered during drilling of exploration holes on the <br />lease. No substantial quantities of water were encountered through the mine section or in the <br />sandstones below the coals that are to be mined. <br />The Trout Creek Sandstone of the Iles Formation is the first major, regional aquifer that can <br />be recognized on the mine property. The sandstone occurs approximately 800 feet beneath <br />the lowest coals to be surface mined. <br />The geologic characteristics of the Williams Fork and Iles Formations appear to demonstrate <br />natural low porosity and permeability that is enhanced locally by fracturing. Since most of <br />the beds in the Williams Fork are not laterally extensive, and due to the relatively low <br />yielding characteristics, the Williams Fork in this area can not be considered to be a <br />significant aquifer. <br />The groundwater quality has been shown to be of poor quality and is variable from site to <br />site. A study conducted in 1974 and 1975 revealed that the specific conductance of the <br />groundwater averaged <br /> <br />2.04.7-26 <br />