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Do not excavate below existing elevation of low flow river channel without consultation with and approval from USACE. [Note: the existing low flow river channel has generally been taken to mean the thalweg when the permits were written and signed, roughly in late 1996; the thalweg is the lowest point, or invert, of the lawest channel in a cross section perpendicular to the channel belt.] None of the operators has complied fully with these conditions and any later modifications that USACE explicitly approved. The operators ignored some data reporting requirements during the first year and then continued similar practices. Unfortunately, USAGE never responded to reporting or mining violations. Whether USAGE has therefore implicitly approved the operators' practices is a subject for debate. However, the permit requirements aze cleaz, so I believe that the operators are responsible for full compliance. Recently, USAGE has asked the operators for additional information to support their extension requests. This report presents a selective review of in-stream mining activities that are relevant to my training in genera] geology and geomorphology. It omits some issues, such.as extraction volumes and bank stabilization or mining, and it does not address many other regulations with which the operators maybe in compliance, such as those concerning water quality and use, related on-site activities, or reclamation bonding. In the following sections, individual pits aze discussed in upstream-to-downstream order, with one exception: the Dalton Pit precedes the Hermosa Meadows Pit because more data are available for the first. 3.0 BAR-D PIT 3.1 Operators Burnett Construction, Inc. (later renamed Durango Construction, Inc.) from before 1996 to about March, 2003 Oidcastle S W Group, Inc., dba Four Corners Materials, bought the pit in 1999 and began operating it in about March, 2003 (specific dates not in USACE files) 3.2 Changes to Permit Special Conditions Proposed Operating and Monitoring Plan Operating and monitoring plans for this pit are contained in "A Sustainable Streambed Harvest Plan for the Bar-D Site" (Sugnet & Associates, 1996). This report was submitted in August of 1996, before USAGE finalized the text of the permit. The report states: • Thirteen cross sections at the required spacing were surveyed in January, 1996 to provide thalweg datum elevations. • These sections will be surveyed twice per year (text) or "annually" (Appendix B). • Two off-site sections will be established approximately one mile upstream and downstream from the pit (Appendix B; context implies same surveying frequency). • Longitudinal profiles will also be provided (context implies same frequency). Gillam to Hellige, Nov. 28, 2003 page 3