GENERAL31233 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Two reservoirs are located within the life of mine area. Minnesota Reservoir is located on Dry Fork. It has a decreed capacity of 1,285 acre-feet. The actual capacity may be closer to 500 acre-feet, however. Typically, Minnesota Reservoir receives much of its water from the Deep Creek Ditch (an inter-basin diversion) which diverts water from Coal Creek to the upper reaches of the Dry Fork of Minnesota Creek. Average discharge of the Deep Creek Ditch from 1950 to 1977 was approximately 1,110 acre-feet per year. Average yield of Minnesota Reservoir for the same period was approximately 590 acre-feet per year. Beaver Reservoir is located on the East Fork of Minnesota Creek and has an absolute decreed capacity of 1,620 acre-feet and a conditional decree of 552 acre-feet. Average yield of Beaver Reservoir from 1950 to 1977 was approximately 680 acre-feet per year. Both reservoirs store water for irrigation purposes and are filled during spring runoff. They are usually drained by late August or early September. Severe leakage at Beaver Reservoir has caused the State of Colorado to restrict the amount of water that can be stored. Leakage has caused minor springs to occur in the outcropping bedrock along the downstream sides of the East Fork of Minnesota Creek and below the toe of the dam. Leakage is most noticeable in the spring when the reservoir is at its maximum storage capacity. Water quality parameters for the North Fork are given in Table 3. As indicated, waters in the North Fork are a calcium bicarbonate type. There are moderate levels of sulfate. Salinity averages less than 100 mg/1. Water quality data has been collected at several sites throughout the environmental study area. The data indicate that those waters are also the calcium bicarbonate type and relatively low total dissolved solids concentrations. There are a total of 23 decreed springs on or near the lease area. Twelve of these springs occur within the coal lease boundary of which one occurs outside the 5-year permit boundary, The Mt. Gunnison No. 1 Mine is an underground mine within the F coal seam. Mining is to ultimately progress from the portals in the valley of the North Fork of the Gunnison River up the dip of the F seam under the watershed of Minnesota Creek. The extraction of coal will be by continuous mining methods. Controlled subsidence will occur during pillaring. Development waste rock and processing waste from the Mt. Gunnison mine will be disposed of in one permanent disposal pile. One pile, the Upper Waste Pile, has been approved but not yet constructed. Another pile, the Lower Waste Pile, has been approved and is now under construction. Load out facilities for the Mt. Gunnison Mine are located along the North Fork of the Gunnison River. 32