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Parachute Creek drainage. The project will have an average consumptive water use • of approximately 1.4 cfs of water. Potable water for the Parachute Site will be provided by the water treatment facility. Potable water for the Piceance Site will be trucked in and stored. Use of existing water rights would eliminate any new water depletions from commercial operation of the Yankee Gulch Project. Because the project does not involve any nondepletion impacts that would modify or change existing habitat conditions, no impacts to designated critical habitat are anticipated. Depletions from the Upper Colorado River Basin are determined from abasin-wide context, and, therefore, such depletions cannot be replaced by within-basin sources. For small depletions, monetary compensation determined on an acre-foot per year basis has been developed and adopted as the most equitable and efficacious means of mitigating potential depletion-related impacts to the endangered Upper Colorado River Basin fish (BLM 1997a). American Soda believes that the use of existing water rights is likely to preclude the assessment of depletion fees but acknowledges that appropriate monetary compensation to the FWS may be required for Colorado River Basin depletion impacts. Estimated water use for project operations is anticipated to be about 1.4 cfs (620 gpm) on a daily basis. At an average estimated rate of 620 gpm, the annual depletion would be approximately 1,000 acre-feet. The specific water rights for Yankee Gulch Project operations have not been finalized at this time. Once they are finalized, American Soda will proceed with • appropriate measures to address depletion fees, depending on whether or not the use of the existing water rights constitutes a new depletion under the terms of the FWS's Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River. 8.9 CULTURAL AND PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES As described in Section 7.10, American Soda conducted a cultural resources inventory of the entire Piceance Site and the northernmost end of the pipeline corridor during May and June 1998, the results of which will be provided to the BLM upon completion. Preliminary results of the cultural resources inventory indicate that a relatively high density of Paleo-Indian cultural sites occur at the Piceance Site. It is anticipated that a number of these sites will be encountered and would be disturbed in the development of the well field, the processing plant area, and the evaporation pond at the Piceance Site. Previous and current cultural resources investigations at the Piceance Site suggest that the likelihood of discovering archaeological sites is greatest on the ridgetops, and it is these areas that are scheduled to be developed first (during the initial 30 years of operation) under the commercial mine plan. Most sites discovered will likely be lithic scatters or other isolated finds that will not be significant. However, more significant sites, such as temporary camps or more permanent villages, may • also be present at the Piceance Site. American Soda, L.L.P. 8_2S Commernal Mine Plan August 16, 199d