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<br />Ten springs which are present in or adjacent to the permit area were chosen <br />for further study. At each of these sites, three water quality and discharge <br />measurements were made during the summer and fall of 1983. Typically, quality <br />and quantity varied from spring to spring. <br />In general, the water was all very hard with average TDS values ranging from <br />458 mg/1 to 2,150 mg/1. Sulfate was generally more dominant than <br />bicarbonate. One spring 5-25 had an average TDS value of 26,567 mg/1, which <br />is anomalously high. The applicant has postulated that this may be due to: <br />1) the spring being located at the toe of a landslide (high TDS values <br />may be a result of more bedrock exposure to physical and chemical <br />weathering processes as water passes through the slide); <br />2) the flow is very low (less than 0.5 g/m); evaporation at the spring <br />would tend to highly concentrate salts in the water; <br />3) the spring may be contaminated by the salt blocks which are located in <br />the area. <br />All but two springs experienced a decline in flow during the course of the <br />summer. Five had dried up by late August, three others flowed less water <br />during base flow and two were flowing at about the same rate in October as in <br />June. <br />Four springs, Olson Spring, S-5, S-25, and 5-41, are expected to be impacted <br />by mining, one of which, 5-41, feeds a registered stock pond, while Olson <br />Springs is an adjudicated domestic water right. A discussion of this can be <br />found in Section IX - Assessment of Probable Iydrologic Consequences of Mining <br />and Cumulative Hydrologic Impacts. <br />The applicant has proposed an operational monitoring plan in Section V of <br />Tab 7. The monitoring plan was reviewed and modified by the Division in order <br />to provide clarity and establish timeframes. Therefore, the following <br />stipulations are required: <br />Stipulation No. 2 <br />THE FOLLOWING SPRINGS WILL BE MONITORED TRI-ANNUALLY FOR DISCHARGE, pH, <br />TEMPERATURE, AND CONDUCTANCE: S-1, S-5, S-7, S-9, 5-23, 5-25, S-41, AND <br />OLSON SPRING (5-45 ). <br />IN ADDITION TO THE ABOVE FIELD PARAMETERS, THE FOLLOWING SPRINGS WILL BE <br />SAMPLED IN AUGUST FOR WATER QUALITY ANALYSES: S-9, S-41 ., AND OLSON SPRING <br />(5-45 ). <br />THE WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS TO BE SAMPLED FOR ARE LOCATED IN TABLE 7-77 <br />OF THE PERMIT APPLICATION. <br />-21- <br />