GENERAL35604

• Permit No: C1981038
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 7/21/1988
• Doc Name: PROPOSED DECISION & FINDINGS OF COMPLIANCE FOR RN1
• Permit Index Doc Type: Findings
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

• -17-
which 1te to the southeast of the Fire Mountain Canal including the area
mapped Qpc are found to meet criteria of alluvial valley floors. Alluvial
deposits located upslope (northwest) of the Fire Mountain Canal failed to meet
the water availability criteria, and so were given no further consideration.
The alluvial valley floor along the North Fork continues downstream, as shown
on Map 5-2.
The operator will be affecting 11.4 of the Terror Creek watershed. This area
and the ad,)acent Terror Creek were not considered 1n the Division's original
Alluvial Valley Floor determination August 20, 1981 but they were considered
for this permit revision of June 20, 1985. The operator did not identify any
areas along Terror Creek that contain significant bodies of alluvium. Most of
the deposits are colluvial in nature and confined to the immediate stream
channel. The Morrell Camp area contains primarily colluvial deposits and as
such does not meet the definition of alluvial valley floors.
East and West Roatcap Creek were also not determined to be alluvial valley
floors. The sediments are predominately colluvial 1n nature and are too small
to support agricultural activities.
In reviewing the original application, some concerns were raised over whether
CNI proposed to use augmentation water that would normally supply an AYF. CNI
responded by showing that Terror ditch and Nest Reservoir waters supply Garvin
• Mesa and an irrigated area known as 'the Basin', both of which are out of the
valley floor complex and are not alluvial valley floors. Therefore, CWI will
not be impacting an AVF as a result of augmentation mitigation.
Alluvial Valley Floors - Findings
` The applicant is eligible for exemption from the requirements of Section
34-33-114 (2 )(e)(II) of C.R.S. 1973 by virtue of having a permit issued prior
to August 3, 1977, This permit was a License to Mine, issued by the Colorado
Division of Mines on December 14, 1976. This was the only primary permit
required at the time by Colorado law to operate an underground coal mine. The
real extent of this exemption must be based upon a demonstration of financial
or regulatory commitment to mine prior to August 3, 1977. In this case, mine
maps submitted to the Division of Mines and information in the permit
application (see 'Ground Nater Investigation of 5teven's Gulch" in Yolume 4)
provide the appropriate financial or regulatory demonstration, Therefore,
both areas identified as alluvial valley floors in Steven's Gulch and along
the North For1c of the Gunnison River are exempt from the requirements of
Section 34-33-114 (2 )(e )(I ). The permit revision areas and the potential
alluvial valley floor in adJacent Terror Creek are not covered by the
grandfather provision, and will be discussed separately later.
Although exempted from Section 34-33-114(2)(e )(I ), the applicant must still
comply with Section 34-33-120 (2)(,))NI) for all activities which involve
surface operations or surface impacts incident to the underground portions of
the mine. To demonstrate compliance, the applicant must identify the
• essential hydrologic functions of an alluvial valley floor and submit a plan
demonstrating that the essential hydrologic functions can be preserved
throughout mining or restored after mining.
The essential hydrologic functions of the AVF along the North Fork of the
Gunnison are both flood irrigation and subirrigation, The lower levels of