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-13- Hydraulic mining requires large quantities of water for operations such as cutting of the coal and in the slurry line transporting fine refuse to the waste site. The operation has facilities designed to process and recirculate the majority of water required for the operation. The water circulation is designed as a closed-system, with the major water loss occurring through evaporation, adhesion to the coal and refuse, and by seepage underground during mining. The application projects that water loss through these processes will require a makeup of approximately 300 acre feet of water annually to the system. The Coal Ridge No. 1 Mine has acquired water rights more than sufficient to augment their annual projected water loss. The major water rights owned by the applicant are from the Vulcan Ditch, which originates in Canyon Creek, a tributary to the Colorado River on the north side of the River. The water from this ditch is siphoned underneath the Colorado River and has been historically used to flood irrigate the alluvial valley floor north and east of the surface facilities. During low-flow periods, the applicant has committed to giving priority to irrigation of the historic alluvial valley floor. There exists little possibility that use of valid water rights by the applicant will detrimentally impact the quantity of water available to the Colorado River. The use of 300 acre-feet annually equals an average flow of 0.42 cfs. This reduction of flow in the Colorado River is an insignificant impact. In conclusion, no significant impacts to the hydrologic balance are projected for the operation at the Coal Ridge No. 1 facilities. At this time the Division is approving construction of a 15,000 cubic yard coal waste disposal pile to be located in the center of the surface facilities area near the area designated for raw coal storage and handling in the mine plan. This area will drain into a diversion channel, and ultimately into Sediment Pond A. As this refuse pile will be located on unconsolidated colluvial material, there is the potential for leaching through this waste pile into the colluvial material and ultimately into the alluvial ground water along the Colorado River. Due to small size of the refuse pile, it is not expected that any degradation of water quality within the alluvium will occur. Also, the monitoring plan as detailed in the application will detect any changes if they occur within the water quality of the colluvial and alluvial material. An analysis of Probable Hydrologic Consequences of the Coal Ridge No. 1 Mine has been performed by the applicant, as required under Rule 2.05.6(3). Several effects from the proposed operations have been identified and were discussed above. These effects are not anticipated to adversely impact the overall hydrologic balance and the operations proposed within the permit application have been designed to prevent material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the proposed permit area. Appropriate measures have been outlined within the application to ensure the protection of the quality and quantity of surface and ground waters within both the proposed permit and adjacent areas, from the adverse effects of the proposed mining activities.