1982-04-21_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - M1981302 (4)

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• °F `°``° � III IIIIIIIIII_III III Fll�HARD D. LAMM Governor 'n /� State Engineer * 1876 OFFICE OF THE STATE ENGINEER DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES 1313 Sherman Street-Room 818 Denver, Colorado 80203 (303) 866-3581 April21 , 1982 TO: Mined Land Reclamation, Attn: Brad Janes FROM: Hal D. Simpson, Assistant State Engineer SUBJECT: Flatiron Sand & Gravel Company - Deepe Farm Pit, #81-302 , Application for Mining & Reclamation Permit As requested, we have reviewed the application for a gravel pit near Boulder. The applicant indicates that the reclaimed lakes will be used by wildlife . Using an impoundment of water for recreational purposes , including fishery and wildlife, ha's been defined in CRS 1973 , 37-92-103 , as putting the water to beneficial use. Since the source of water for the lakes that will be formed by the gravel pit operation is ground water, we require that the applicant obtain a permit to use ground water from our office . This permit must be obtained prior to construction of the gravel pit to avoid being in violation of CRS 1973 , 37-90-137 . The project is located in the over-appropriated South Platte River basin and therefore any new beneficial use of water which results in a consumptive use must be augmented. The applicants consultant made an analysis of the historic consumptive use of water in the project area which shows that 5/ . 2% of the water needed by the plants was met by ground water, ditch seepage and return flow. No credit was given to precipitation (See figure C-9) . This would reduce the calculated quantity of ground water needed to meet the water requirements of the pasture grass . We feel that in order to accept credit for a large contribution of water being furnished by ground water , we would need documentation that ground water is only one to five feet deep under the whole mine site area and that the pasture grasses could obtain this ground water. Why isn't any credit given for the future consumptive use of the phreatophytes used in the reclamation of the project, since they would appear to be able to take advantage of the same high water table ? For the above reasons , we presently cannot accept only 4 . 45 shares of Dry Creek No. 2 Ditch as being sufficient to mitigate any damages which may occur.