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Gulch for a period of several years. Sylvester Gulch has a drainage <br /> area of 4.25 square miles. The hydrologic yield of Sylvester Gulch is <br /> low compared to the other watersheds in the West Elk life-of-mine area. <br /> This is due to the fact that it drains an area which is lower in elevation <br /> and has gentler slopes. Monitoring of Gribble Gulch, which could <br /> potentially be impacted by mining in Jumbo Mountain, began in <br /> September 1993. Most of the West Elk Mine underlies the Minnesota <br /> Creek drainage to the south. <br /> The Minnesota Creek basin is a significant drainage system occurring in <br /> the southern part of the five-year permit area, and within the <br /> life-of-mine coal lease boundary. Minnesota Creek and its tributaries <br /> drain the southern portion of the coal lease area. These tributaries <br /> include Horse Creek, South Prong, Lick Creek, Dry Fork, and East <br /> Fork. Minnesota Creek enters the North Fork of the Gunnison near <br /> Paonia. <br /> The Minnesota Creek drainage extends approximately 53.5 square miles <br /> as shown in Figure 3 of this document. The West Elk life-of-mine area <br /> is drained by five tributaries to Minnesota Creek. These tributaries <br /> include East Fork, Horse Creek, South Prong, Lick Creek, and Dry <br /> Fork. Characteristics of the drainages are given in Table 3 of this <br /> document. Lick Creek and Dry Fork average slopes are generally <br /> steeper and the watersheds are at higher elevations than those tributary <br /> to the North Fork. Based upon streamflows measured in water year <br /> 1978, the water yields from these drainages are nearly an order of <br /> magnitude greater than that from Sylvester Gulch. <br /> The evaluation of flow within the Minnesota Creek drainage can only <br /> be considered an approximation due to infiltration and seepage losses, <br /> seasonal variations in precipitation and potential evaporation and <br /> sampling difficulties. Nevertheless, approximately 1,000 acre-feet is <br /> annually transferred from the Little Gunnison Creek to the Dry Fork of <br /> Minnesota Creek, and the average annual flow of the East Fork of <br /> Minnesota Creek is approximately 19,920 acre-feet. Irrigation ditches <br /> annually remove about 20,000 acre-feet from Minnesota Creek. <br /> Two reservoirs are located within the Minnesota Creek drainage. <br /> Minnesota Reservoir is located on the Dry Fork. It has a decreed <br /> capacity of 1,285 acre-feet, but the actual capacity may be closer to 500 <br /> acre-feet. Beaver Reservoir is located on the East Fork of Minnesota <br /> Creek and has an absolute decreed capacity of 1,620 acre-feet and a <br /> conditional decree of 522 acre- feet. Both reservoirs store water for <br /> irrigation purposes and are filled during spring runoff. They are <br /> usually drained by late August or early September. <br /> 34 <br />