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~~ / 1991 Mined Land ~01't" ~~GivNeS ~ ~~~ ~~O .KI~~ Reclamation Division 23 February 1991 Mr. Kenneth Salazar, Executive Director Department of Natural Resources ~~ 1313 Sherman Street Gn'1K G.^a~e~ ~i~ Denver, CO 80203 !'H-i~91- I~{~ ~~pw-may ~oc,u nn.a.nt5 Dear Mr. Salazar: // ,r~ By some remarkable coincidence, I have recently been called upon to perform hydrological analyses of two proposed gravel mining operations along the Uncompahgre River in western Colora- do. One of these, located between Ouray and Ridgway in Ouray County, would remove gravel from a small portion of an elongated ridge of sediment along which the river flows. This ridge has been built up by repeated storms in such a way that the river now flows in a channel which is elevated high above the floodplain. If this ridge were to be breached by the river, it would cause major flooding in residential areas adjacent to the river. With each new storm the degree of elevation above the river increases, and so do both the probability and the likely severity of flood- ing. My recommendations, as detailed in the enclosed copy of my report on the project, are to start removing the gravel as soon as possible from this unstable deposit in order to prevent the otherwise inevitable flood damage. But local residents, knowing that they live in one of the most beautiful valleys in America, are resisting the proposed operation strenuously. Their objec- tions are based not on the effects on the river bed, but rather on the related truck traffic which the project would engender, and on the noise and dust coming from the gravel crushing plant which would adjoin it. The other proposed project -- the Solar Road pit -- lies just south of Montrose. Here Western Gravel, Inc. plans to remove gravel from the river bed and truck it to an existing crushing plant nea[ the city of Montrose. Because of the changes wrought in the river's hydrologic regime at this point by the recent construction of the Ridgway Reservoir, however, the remo- val of gravel from the river bed at this point is Zikely to cause permanent lowering of the water table and concomitant damage both to riparian wildlife habitat along the river and to adjacent irrigated farmlands. A copy of my report on this project is also included. These two projects lie within about 25 miles of each other. And there exists a single elegant solution to the problems asso- ciated with both projects -- a solution which is exquisitely sim- ple, universally beneficial, and environmentally sound. Instead of removing gravel from the Solar Road pit, Western Gravel should take it out of the elevated river bed upstream. Moreover, all other gravel removal operations in the area -- which includes RECEI~IED OCT 2 6 2001 Div' ning and Safety n.