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<br />Section 816.51 (a). Continued. <br />backfill as compared to the permeability of the undisturbed aquifer. <br />The increased permeability and ground water storage in the re- <br />claimed area will be beneficial for the proposed postmining land <br />use. As explained in detail in Section 780.21 (c), the permeable <br />spoil material will enable the disturbed overburden aquifer to <br />transmit water to the ground water system more rapidly than would <br />be possible in the undisturbed condition. Thus the postmining <br />recharge capability will support the proposed postmining land use. <br />(b) Minimizes disturbances to the prevailing hydrologic balance in the <br />mine plan area and in adjacent areas; and <br />The overburden strata within the mine plan area contain an aquifer <br />of low permeability and specific yield as demonstrated by pump <br />tests of the overburden aquifer and by the fact that no private <br />wells or springs known to produce water from the overburden aquifer <br />in the mine plan area, as described in Section 779.15. Thus, the <br />J overburden aquifer is of little importance as compared to the <br />Twentymile, Trout Creek and other higher-yielding sandstone aquifers <br />to the prevailing hydrologic balance of the Williams Fork Formation <br />in the Twentymile Park Ground Water Basin (Brogden and Giles (1977)), <br />Haile the storage capacity of the unconsolidated backfill will be <br />higher than normal, the storage characteristics of the undisturbed <br />portion of the overburden aquifer in the mine plan area will be <br />unaffected by mining. This is because the overburden aquifer is <br />already saturated down-gradient from the area to be mined, and the <br />piezometric pressure on the aquifer will not <br />after mining is completed. In addition, the <br />aquifer is confined by shale aquitards which <br />water flow between it and other aquifers. T <br />modified recharge capacity in the overburden <br />minimal effect on the hydrologic balance. <br />be changed measurably <br />undisturbed overburden <br />severely hinder ground <br />tus, the slightly <br />aquifer will have a <br />• 816-58 <br />