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XI. Operations on Alluvial Vallev Floors <br />The permittee's alluvial valley floor investigations in Section 2.06.8 of Tab 21, Volume 6, of the <br />application have been reviewed for compliance. <br />There are two separate areas where alluvial valley floors must be assessed: <br />I. The surface facilities area and adjacent areas at the Roadside North and South Portals, and <br />Unit Train Loadout; and <br />2. The Cottonwood/Rapid Creek drainages and adjacent areas which will be undermined by <br />[he Roadside mine. <br />Drainages in the North Portal mining area are characterized by steep sided canyons with deeply <br />incised channels, limited areas of alluvial deposition, and no Flood irrigated or subirigated agriculture. <br />Headwaters for these drainages are at relatively low elevations in the Book Cliffs, and the streams <br />exhibit intermittent or ephemeral flow regimes. Insufficient surface water availability and saline soils <br />eliminate Coal Creek, Jerry Creek and their tributaries from alluvial valley floor consideration. <br />Drainages in the bookcliffs with characteristics similar to those in the permit area are not typically <br />developed for irrigated agriculture (OSM, June, 1985 "Reconnaissance Maps to Assist in Identifying <br />Alluvial Valley Floors, West-Central Colorado"). <br />Potential AVF areas within and adjacent to the permit area are addressed below. See Tab 21 of the <br />application for further information. <br />Facilities Area <br />The permittee identified approximately 500 acres of land within the reconnaissance study area that <br />meet the geomorphic criteria for alluvial valley floors. This land is located adjacent to the Colorado <br />River. The permittee noted, on Exhibit 33 of the application, that a portion of this land is subirigated <br />and a portion was historically flood irrigated. <br />The penrtittee has demonstrated that a large portion of the alluvial valley floor meets the <br />requirement fora "grandfathering" exemption. The Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act <br />of 1979 allows an exemption from interrupting, precluding, or discontinuing Earning and from effects <br />on the quantity and quality of water supplying the alluvial valley floor, if, in the year preceding August <br />3, 1977, the surface coal mining operations either produced coal in commercial quantities and were <br />located within or adjacent to an alluvial valley floor, or had obtained permit approval to conduct <br />surface coal mining operations within an alluvial valley floor. <br />The geographic extent of the exemption is limited to the actual extent of mine workings as of August <br />3, 1977, and adjacent lands for which there existed (at that time) substantial demonstrable financial <br />or regulatory commitment to mine in the future, as required by Rule 2.06.8(5)(a)(i)(B) in the <br />Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining. <br />The permittee provided copies of permits for the Roadside and Cameo Mines which were obtained <br />in December 1976 and January 1977. Therefore, those lands permitted are eligible for the <br />"grandfather" exemption. These lands include those portions of the permit area within Sections 27, <br />28, 33 and 34, TIOS, R98W. This area includes the entire affected alluvial valley floor, with the <br />47 <br />