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other relevant facts that should be considered by the Board and that the petition explain why airy new facts were not available at the original hearing. Haldorson's Petition and Supplement and the Exhibits and Appendices attached to each respectively, meets this standard for the following information in particular: • The applicant is requesting permission to begin mining to a depth of 13 feet (3 feet of topsoil and 10 feet of gravel), instead of committing to a maximum depth of 20 feet, prior to the year's worth of groundwater level data; • Irrigation water enters the aquifer on the terrace through a network of irrigation channels, and travels down to the Mancos Shale, then flows along the dip of the shale to the lower terrace floodplain of the river and enters the river system; • It is likely that no groundwater exists on the mesa once irrigation ceases and the gravels are allowed to drain (based on observations of similar areas in western Colorado); • Groundwater levels on the mesa are a function of gravel porosity and permeability, the dip of the shale bedrock, the amount of water entering the system, proximity of the infiltration water, and other factors; • The Mancos Shale at the site dips to the northeast at between 1% and 5%; • The 6 test holes dug in March of 2003 showed the depth of the gravel and the strike and dip of the shale; • Based on the author's experience, the conditions at the site and the proximity of the imgation would result in water levels of only 5 to 6 feet above the shale layer; • An inspection of the mesa slope revealed no evidence of phreatophyte vegetation, nor salt deposits that may be an indication that water had emanated from the slope face; • The only phreatophyte vegetation at the site -cottonwoods, willows, and water- demanding grasses - is located within a few feet of the slope toe; • The highwall of the Metcalf Pit, located west of the proposed site on the slope edge of the upper terrace, has no history of groundwater emanating from it; • The Spring Creek Mesa Pit located in the same gravel terrace deposit as the proposed Haldorson Pit, and only 2/3 mile from Phase I, has mined to 30 to 35 feet below ground surface, and groundwater has never been encountered; • A test hole dug to approximately 60 feet at the Spring Creek site, during irrigation season, never encountered groundwater; • The Applehanz Base Products Pit, immediately east of the Spring Creek operation was excavated to a depth of 40 feet below ground surface and has never encountered groundwater; • The reclaimed topography at the site will not affect surface runoff at the site due to the minimal amount of precipitation at the site coupled with the aridity of the climate.