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Cultural and Historic Resources-Rules 2.04 4 and 2 05.6(4) <br />Cultural and historic resources are discussed in Section 2.04.4 of the permit. <br />A cultural resource study was performed in July, 1981. A 100 percent survey of <br />the existing facilities area and a 10 percent survey of the permit area were <br />made. Two lithic scatters and five isolated aboriginal finds were recorded <br />during the 10 percent survey of the permit area. None were eligible for <br />nomination to the National Register of Historic Places due to the presence of <br />limited artifacts and lack of diagnostic features to ascribe cultural affiliation <br />and temporal placement. <br />Hydrologic Balance-Rules 2.04.5, 2.04.7, 2.05.3(4), 2.05.6(31 and 4.05 <br />Groundwater information can be found in the permit document in Section 2.04.5(1) <br />and Volume 8 of the permit application. Volume 8 addresses all groundwater <br />concerns identified by the Division during the preliminary review process. <br />A description of groundwater occurrence and mining impacts on groundwater within <br />the permit and adjacent areas can be found in the "Probable Hydrologic <br />Consequences of Mining" section of this document and the "Cumulative Hydrologic <br />Impact Study" document for this mine area. <br />There are significant amounts of groundwater underlying the Red Canyon Mine <br />permit area. A surficial "glacial-alluvial" deposit mantles a major portion of <br />the permit area. The deposit is fully saturated in most area and is a regionally <br />significant aquifer. This aquifer is recharged by perennial, spring-fed streams <br />such as Williams Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Ward Creek. The aquifer is up to <br />250 feet thick in places and composed of loose gravel and boulder material. <br />Water quality is high and can be considered as acceptable for potable and <br />irrigation uses. <br />The bedrock aquifers are much lower in potential yield. The coal beds are <br />relatively thin, less than 10 feet, and rely on secondary fracture porosity to <br />transmit water. It i~s estimated that these aquifers have a permeability on the <br />order of 100 times less than the overlying alluvial glacial outwash materials. <br />Water quality analyses from the vicinity of the Red Canyon Mine indicate that the <br />water is primarily of a sodium bicarbonate type having dissolved solids ranging <br />from 258 mg/1 in the F seam to 1354 mg/1 in the E seam. <br />There are a number of water wells that exist in the area. Depths are shallow and <br />yields low enough so as to not affect the underlying bedrock aquifers. Mining <br />and dewatering of the coal seams should not significantly interfere with <br />utilization of this water in the immediate area. The largest yields from these <br />wells are 15 to 20 gallons per minute (gpm) and are designated as domestic use <br />only. It appears that the majority of these wells are producing water from the <br />glacial alluvial cover and not from bedrock aquifers. <br />The sandstone bedrock aquifers are usually thin, less than 20 feet, very fine <br />grained, highly cemented, and generally unfractured, except where regional joint <br />patterns exist. These sandstones were deposited in lenticular, delta-like bar <br />and lagoon sands and are not laterally extensive. The hydraulic potential of <br />these sandstones is limited and does not permit large capacity wells to be <br />5 <br />