Laserfiche WebLink
• the fault connections that previously allowed inflow from and an impact on the <br />quantity of water in the aquifer. The Middle sandstone, however, is not used• <br />for water supply in the area. The practical effects of these impacts are, <br />therefore, neglible. <br />No significant impacts are foreseen on any other bedrock aquifers by the Eagle <br />Mines. The adjacent Trapper Mine, however, does affect the quantity of water <br />available in the Twentymile sandstone which is used as a source of water for <br />that operation. This use does not impair the quality of water in the <br />aquifer. There is a potential impact of the Trapper Mine on the quality of <br />water in the lowest of the White sandstones by the eventually backfilling of <br />spoil material against the updip face of that sandstone. No lessening of <br />recharge to the White sandstone or of the quantity of water available results <br />from this practice. <br />The Eagle Mines have the potential to impact the quantity of water in the <br />Williams Fork alluvium. Discharge of degraded water into the alluvium from <br />the flooded No. 5 and No. 6 Mines following cessation of operations is <br />possible by means of the subcrops of the mined "E" and "F" seams in the <br />Williams Fork Valley. No impact of the Eagle Mines is anticipated on the <br />quantity of Williams Fork alluvial water or on either the quantity or quality <br />of water in the Yampa alluvium. There are no projected impacts of the Trapper <br />Mine on the water available from either the Williams Fork or Yampa alluvial <br />bodies. <br />• Such impacts as are made by the Eagle and Trapper Mines on the quantity and <br />quality of ground water in the basin are entirely separate. There are no <br />cumulative impacts on any individual bedrock or alluvial aquifer. <br />Cumulatively, however, the Eagle and Trapper Mines do reduce the overall <br />quantity of ground water available in the basin, and they cumulatively have <br />the potential to degrade the overall average quality of ground water in the <br />general area. The sum of the impacts of these mines, however, should not <br />significantly affect the use of ground water outside their permit areas. The <br />Division, therefore, finds that the proposed Eagle No. 5 and No. 6 Mines with <br />the stipultion made, have been designed to prevent material damage to the <br />hydrologic balance outside their permit area and to be in compliance with Rule <br />2.07.6(2)(C). <br />Surface Water <br />Permitted mines in the CHIS study area are listed in Table 1. <br />Salt loading predictions were calculated using surface water data from low <br />flow years and predictions of mining-related impacts: underground mine <br />inflows, spoils aquifer discharges, and outflows from flooded workings of <br />underground mines. It is difficult to classify the duration of these impacts <br />as many overlap. Mine inflows from Foidel Creek underground mine will <br />continue through 2015. (TABLE 2). Empire Energy's Eagle No. 5 and 6 Mine <br />will discharge until 2006. Backfilled spoils discharges take three to fifteen <br />years to develop and then are projected to discharge poor quality water for <br />several hundred years. Discharge from the flooded workings from Foidel Creek <br />• underground mine is not projected to begin until the year 2365. The discharge <br />-43- <br />,r <br />