Laserfiche WebLink
-- - III IIIIIIIIIIIII III ~ <br />999 <br />RICHARD D. LAMM <br />Governor <br />OF COCO • <br />~4' = 99O <br />Fe j ~~ fj <br />N <br />~ r r~ r <br />#~rt <br />~ /876 ~` <br />DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman Street -Room 818 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Administration (303)839-3581 <br />Ground Water (303) 839-3587 <br />March 16, 1980 <br />MEMORANDUM <br />T0: CHIPS BARRY, DIRECTOR, MINED LAND RECLAMATION BOARD <br />FROM: HAL D. SIMPSON, CHIEF, WATER MANAGEMENT BRANCH <br />J. A. DANIELSON <br />State Engineer <br />SUBJECT: ELAN CONSTRUCTION - CHAMBERS PIT, GARFIELD COUNTY, APPLICATION <br />FOR MINING AND RECLAh1ATI0N PERMIT <br />As requested by your office, we have reviewed the application for a <br />gravel pit 2 miles east of Rifle, and the following comments are <br />presented for your consideration: <br />1. The applicant states that the owner of the property will <br />provide 30,000 gallons per day from water rights that he <br />owns to meet the requirements for dust control on the haul <br />road. If this water is decreed only for irrigation, the <br />applicant should obtain a change-in-use prior to utilizing <br />the water for dust control, which is an industrial use. <br />2. The applicant should also evaluate the effects of evapora- <br />tion losses from the 39-acre reclaimed lake on the downstream <br />senior water rights. During dry years, the water rights <br />place calls on junior water rights; therefore, it is obvious <br />that any additional detrimental changes to the existing <br />hydrologic balance could result in injury. Until the applicant <br />has a method to minimize this injury, such as a plan for <br />augmentation which would compensate for the evaporation losses, <br />there will be no real compensation to the senior water rights. <br />3. The applicant states in Exhibit 6 that the affected land <br />itself contains no tributary water source or known aquifers. <br />However, in the second paragraph it states that the SCS report <br />found ground water at a depth of 2 to 4 feet and dewatering <br />will be required. An aquifer is defined as a water-bearing <br />stratum or formation. Therefore, it is obvious from the SCS <br />report that the affected land does contain tributary ground <br />water to the Colorado River. <br />