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-50- Bear Coal Cortq~any will utilize 1.15 acre-feet per year of domestic water from the Somerset Domestic Waterworks as drinking water. Water used for dust suppression on roads and for wash down of the mine shop and equipment is pumped from a shallow well located in the alluvium next to the North Fork at the rate of 5.3 ac. ft. per year. Within the mine, the water will be used to cool equipment and for dust suppression. The total estimated consumption of water which is tributary to the North Fork of the Gunnison River will be 5.5 acre-feet per year. This consumption represents 0.0018 of the mean annual yield in the North Fork. Additional minor amounts of water will be consumed through evaporation from the sediment ponds at the mines. The Blue Ribbon Mine consumes about 16,010 gallons of water per day (11.12 gpm). This water was pumped from a well completed in the alluvium of Hubbard Creek. This alluvial water is tributary to the flow of water in Hubbard Creek. The water consumption consists of 1,050 gpd for sanitary and domestic use, 9,600 gpd for water absorbed on the coal from the mine, and 5,360 gpd for dust control and equipment wash down. The total depletion of water tributary to the North Fork of the Gunnison for a 250-day work year would be 12.28 acre-feet per year. This is 0.0038 of the mean annual yield in the North Fork. However, the Blue Ribbon is no longer active and the previously pumped from Hubbard Creek is no long used. The closure of this mine is permanent. The Orchard Valley Mine pumps approximately 30,000 gpd (23.02 acre-feet per year) from Stevens Gulch for coal spraying, dust control, fire control, and potable water supplies. This depletion has been augmented by an approved augmentation plan through Division 4 Water Court (see Augmentation Appendix in Volume 2, the Orchard Valley permit application), which utilizes releases from East Beckwith No. 1 Reservoir, located in the Anthracite drainage, to replace water removed from Stevens Gulch. Most of the potable water supply used for showering, etc. is treated at the site and released to the sediment ponds. The loss due to evaporation of the water in the ponds is expected to have a minimal impact on water yields of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Another consumptive use of water by the Orchard Valley Mine will be water absorbed on coal which is transported out of the basin. No data has been provided by Colorado Westmoreland Inc. on this consumptive use at the mine. Colorado Westmoreland Inc. is supplying water consumption information annually to the Division as a committed condition of their 1981 permit approval. The worst-case depletion to the flow in the North Fork (23.02 acre-feet per year) for a 250-day work year should be 0.0068 of the mean annual yield in the river. The Western Slope Carbon Hawk's Nest Mine, located on the north slope of the basin above Somerset, utilizes its surface water rights and rights to mine inflow water (Appendix XIII, Volume 3 of the Hawk's Nest permit application) to meet the water requirements for mining operations, wash plant operations and domestic use.