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• i <br />Peabody monitors three sites for water quality in the Sage Creek drainage. <br />Two sites are on unnamed tributaries to the main Sage Creek channel while the <br />third is downstream on Sage Creek. Water quality at these sites is <br />calcium-bicarbonate. It is suitable for livestock and irrigation, however, <br />except for the main Sage Creek site there is not sufficient flow to sustain <br />irrigation. <br />Peabody Coal Company has proposed a sediment control system to divert, convey <br />and/or treat surface water runoff in and around the mine site. A complete <br />discussion of this system is contained in Section XXI, "Ponds, Impoundments, <br />Diversions". <br />The permit application contains provisions for ongoing surface water <br />monitoring. All current sites will be monitored monthly for discharge and <br />water quality. <br />The proposed water quality monitoring is shown in Table 7-77. In addition, as <br />part of Peabody's NPDES permit for Pond 006, pond discharges will be monitored <br />weekly for flow, oil and grease, total suspended solids and pH; monthly for <br />total iron and quarterly for salinity (electrical conductivity or total <br />dissolved solids). <br />A complete description of surface water occurrence, surface water monitoring <br />and mining impacts on surface water within the permit and adjacent areas can <br />be found in Section IX, "Assessment of Probable Hydrologic Consequences of <br />Mining and Cumulative Hydrologic Impacts" of this document. <br />The permit application is in compliance with the requirements of this section. <br />VII. Water Rights and Replacement - Rules 2.04.7(3), 2.05.6(3)(a)(ii <br />There are four surface water rights and one ground water right located in and <br />near the area to be mined. <br />The one ground water right is the Temple No. 1 Well located west of the <br />southern pit. Well logs do not detail completions, however, it appears that <br />this well is completed in the Wadge Coal and/or the Wadge Overburden <br />aquifers. The well is adjudicated for 0.02 cfs for domestic use. It is <br />likely that mining up dip from this well will result in short-term water <br />depletion and longer term water quality degradation. <br />Two of the four surface water rights are existing livestock watering ponds <br />located within the permit boundary. The Temple Pond No. 1 is located upstream <br />of mining and will not be affected by mining. The Temple Pond No. 2 will be <br />destroyed by mining. The applicant proposes to leave Sedimentation Pond 006 <br />as a permanent structure to replace this water right. <br />-23- <br />