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<br />• 2 <br />Sufficient year-round water rights must be in place to protect existing senior <br />water users from water losses. <br />The Bowie No. 2 Mine permit contains evidence that BRL has appropriated and <br />adjudicated rights to industrial use of water from the Deer Trail Ditch. The Office <br />of the State Engineer concurred that those water rights were valid and, that no <br />water augmentation plan would be necessary so long as the mine's water <br />consumption needs were met by their adjudicated water rights. <br />PR-02 does not include any proposed increase in water consumption. The Office <br />of State Engineer had no comments or objections to this proposed revision. <br />Therefore, the Division feels that BRL has adequately addressed this topic in <br />their PR-02 application. <br />Water depletions should be charged against the applicant and fees assessed for <br />the Colorado Endangered Fish Recovery Fund. <br />In PR-02, BRL estimates that 102.6 acre-feet per year of water will be consumed <br />by longwall mining at a production rate of 2 million tons per year. BRL estimated <br />that 124 acre-feet per year would be consumed when the original mine permit <br />was prepared. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)entered into Section 7 <br />consultation under the Endangered Species Act at that time and issued a <br />biological opinion based on BRL's 124 acre-foot estimate. BRL paid into the <br />Colorado Endangered Fish Recovery Fund as required by USFWS's 1996 <br />Biological Opinion. <br />Pending final communications between our office, the Office of Surface Mining, <br />and the USFWS, any necessary mitigation measures required of BRL will be <br />included in the mine permit as part of PR-02. Since the recently revised water <br />depletion estimate indicates that water consumption will actually be less than the <br />original 124 acre-feet projection, it is not likely that additional payments into the <br />recovery fund will be required as a result of PR-02. However, if any additional <br />mitigation measures are required by USWFS, BRL will be required to implement <br />those measures to the satisfaction of the Division and the USFWS. <br />For those water discharges that result from this permit revision, BRL must ensure <br />no damages occur to senior water users as a result of damaged water quality..... <br />discharges of total dissolved solids, metals, changes in pH and other pollutants <br />must be found to have no impact on downstream water resources, including the <br />federally endangered pike minnow and razorback sucker. <br />