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-51- <br />Bear Coal Company will utilize 1.5 acre feet of domestic water from the Somerset <br />Domestic Waterworks as drinking water and for.'sanitary~%purposes dt the_NO. 3.~mine. <br />Bear is currently negotiating with Colorado Westmoreland for the acquisition of <br />a water right of 4.35 acre feet. This water will be used for dust suppression <br />on roads, wash down of mine shop and equipment. Within the mine the water will <br />be used to: cool equipment and for dust suppression. The total estimated consumption <br />of water which is tributary to the North Fork River will be 5.5 acre feet. This <br />consumption represents 0.001 of the mean annual flow in the North Fork. Additional <br />minor amounts of water will be consumed through evaporation from the sediment <br />ponds aC the mines. <br />The Blue Ribbon mine consumes about 16,000 gallons of water per day (7.99 gpm). <br />This water is pumped from a well completed in the alluvium of Hubbard Creek. <br />This alluvial water is tributary to the flow of water in Hubbard Creek. The <br />water consumption consists of 1,050 gpd for sanitary and domestic use, 9,600 gpd <br />for water adsorbed on the coal from the mine, and 5,360 gpd for dust control and <br />equipment wash down. Western Associated Coal Company has an approved augmentation <br />plan for the Blue Ribbon mine to augment the surface flow in Hubbard Creek when <br />a depletion occurs due to the withdrawal of water at the well. The total depletion <br />of water tributary to the North Fork of the Gunnison for a 250 day work year will <br />be 12.28 acre feet. This is 0.0030 of the total mean flow in the North Fork. <br />U.S. Steel has not submitted an estimate of the total water consumption in the <br />Somerset mine. The Division, therefore, has made the assumption that water <br />consumption at the Somerset mine is similar to the proposed maximum water <br />consumption in the Mt. Gunnison No. I mine. This assumption is based on the close <br />proximity of the mines, the similarity in mining methods, coal handling, man power <br />requirements, and total annual coal production. This estimated water consumption <br />would amount to 150 acre feet per year or 0.040 of the total mean flow in the <br />North Fork of the Gunnison. <br />At present, approximately 30,000 gpd (23.02 acre feet/year) is pumped from Stevens <br />Gulch, the Orchard Valley mine, and used for coal spraying, dust control, fire <br />control, and potable_ water supplies. This depletion has been augmented by an <br />approved augmentation plan through Division 4 Water Court: (see Augmentation <br />appendix in Volume 2, the Orchard Valley Permit Application) which utilizes <br />releases from East Beckwith No. 1 Reservoir, Located in the Anthracite drainage, <br />to replace water removed from Stevens Gulch. Most of the potable water supply <br />used for showering, etc. is treated at the site and released to the sediment ponds. <br />The evaporation of the water in the ponds is expected to have a minimal effect. <br />Another consumptive use of water by the Orchard Valley mine will be water adsorbed <br />on coal which is transported out of the basin. No data has been provided by <br />Colorado Westmoreland, Inc. on this consumptive use at the mine. However, Colorado <br />Westmoreland, Inc. will be supplying water consumption information annually to the <br />Division as a stipulated condition to their permit approval. The worst case <br />depletion to the flow in the North Fork (23.02 acre feet/year) for a 250 day work <br />year should be 0.006 of the total mean flow in the River. <br />