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-19- Since all disturbance will occur only in areas above the ground water table for this permit term, no adverse impacts to ground water quantity are anticipated. A 250 gpm industrial well (Temporary Use Permit No. 25724-F) will supply water to be used at the mine. It is not anticipated that use of this well should materially damage ground water supplies of adjacent wells. However, the applicant is currently pursuing an augmentation plan with the State Engineer's Office to be employed in the event that use of water from this well does impact other users. With the acceptance of the stipulations in the ground water section of this document by the applicant, the Division finds that the dry mine plan has been designed to prevent material damage to ground water quality and quantity on- and off-site. Surface Water The applicant has included plans for the estalishment of a 50U foot stream buffer zone for the Maitland Arroyo and its unnamed tributary. Drainage from disturbed areas will be controlled by surface water diversions and treated in sediment ponds. Coal processing waste placed in the pit will be covered with a minimum of four feet of non-toxic material. No use of any surface water is planned. Given these plans, the Division finds that the proposed operation should not materially damage the quantity or quality of surface water. Cumulative Hydrologic Impacts Assessment Ground Water Under the life-of-mine plan mining would occur below the ground water table in many of the potential aquifers mentioned above. Uewatering and mining of the coal seams and many old underground workings would have a much more profound impact on ground water quality and quantity. The old underground coal mines within and adjacent to the Colorado Goal Mine No. 1 permit area have greatly influenced both the quality and quantity of ground water. The old workings serve as conduits for ground water transport, controlling the direction and rate of yround water movement. Aquifers and surface waters mentioned earlier have drained into the underground mines through mine subsidence related fractures and through abandoned mine shafts, air vents and portals. Due to this communication between bedrock aquifers, the applicant has treated the Vermejo and Raton Formations as one aquifer in their analyses. This communication and infiltration through fractures and openings may also account for the alluvium of the streams in the area being dry.