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relatively minor. Suring the 1985-86 monitoring year, average inflow of only 14 gpm was calculated from the pumping records of the combined Animas, Helen and "storage" mines. The quality of this water compares very well with that yielded by the spring originally underlying lower Starkville Gulch, an area now occupied by the coal processing waste pile. No discernable effects of the mine inflow have been seen in either ground water levels or quality in the wells employed to monitor the local impacts of the mining operation. The water from the Helen Mine is pumped to a surface sump from which it is allowed to evaporate; inflow into the Animas and "storage" mines is directed into the surface water control system whereby it eventually reaches the sediment pond. At times, enough of this water accumulates in the pond so that discharge occurs into Starkville Gulch. The potential consequences of this are discussed in Section VIII. The present and proposed operations are in compliance with the requirements of this section, VII. Alluvial Valley Floors - Rules 2,06,8 and 4,24 The alluvial valley floor study prepared for the original permit application covered an area larger than the permit area proposed at that time. As a result, the study also provides an adequate evaluation of the enlarged permit area surrounding the mine site. The study concluded that this part of the permit area does not contain alluvial deposits greater than 50 feet in width occupied by a stream channel. As a consequence, the focus of the original Findings, and of the later permit revision which enlarged the permit area, was upon the effects of the Animas Mine on alluvial valley floors outside the permit area. These alluvial valley floors include that occupied by Raton Creek and the one located in Moo re's Canyon downstream from the small area of that drainage to be undermined by Animas operations. The original Findings were that the potential was remote for diminution of surface water quantity, or of ground water quality or quantity supplied to the alluvial floor in downstream Moo re's Canyon. These conclusions remain valid. As for the alluvial valley floor occupied by Raton Creek, the original Findings also remain valid, ie, the Animas 141ne would not interrupt, discontinue, or preclude farming on this alluvial valley floor; there was minimal potential for material damage of the quantity or quality of water in the surface and ground water systems in this alluvial valley floor; and the Animas Mine would preserve, throughout the mining and reclamation process, the essential hydrologic functions of the alluvial valley fluor. The potential effects of surface subsidence in South Starkville Gulch, however, were not considered in the original Findings. South Starkville Gulch is within the area added to the original permit area during the first permit term. The permit area was enlarged by permit revision in order to extend both the Animas and Helen Mine workings. The proposed extension of the Animas Mine to the south would undermine South Starkville Gulch. Retreat mining planned in this area was anticipated to result in some surface -14-