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Mr. Ramsey Boehner Page 2 July 24, 1986 "Plan for augmentation means a detailed program to increase the supply of water available for beneficial use in a division or portion thereof by the development of new or alternate means or points of diversion, by a pooling of water resources, by water exchange projects, by providing substitute supplies of water, by the development of new sources of water, or by any other appro- priate means..." (Section 37-92-103(9), CRS (1973)). Al Frei & Sons should devise an augmentation plan to replace the out-of-priority consumptive use associated with pond evaporation and other out-of-priority consumptive uses of water. Should the operator claim and show there is not a beneficial use of the pit water, the evaporation from the additional pond surface area created by mining would be considered a wasteful use of the ground water. Senior water right holders are rightfully entitled to this water. If there was a wasteful use of water, our Division Engineer would order Al Frei & Sons to cease opera- tions in compliance with Section 37-92-502(2), CRS (1973). Fulton Ditch shares have an equivalent consumptive use of 1.8 acre-feet per share to be used for augmentation, not 3.5 acre-feet as listed on page G-3. In order for the operator to use the Fulton Ditch shares to augment for water uses, a plan for augmentation would have to be applied for and approved in Water Court. The applicant, however, has not submitted such a plan to the Water Court and does not state that they plan to. Fifty shares of Fulton Ditch could be used to augment for up to 90 acre-feet of out-of-priority uses. This is not enough water to cover the 152-acre-feet of water lost to the system due to this evaporation in addition to the 49.5 acre-feet of pro- posed uses listed in the application. The application states on page E-2 that it will be in compliance with applicable Colorado water laws and regulations governing injury to existing water rights. As you can see, this is not the case at this time. Unless a plan for augmentation is developed to replace the water loss to the system due to evaporation, the operation will injure existing water rights. Therefore, we cannot recommend approval of the permit until the applicant is capable of mitigating the injury that will be caused by the project. Further, we will order Al Frei & Sons to cease operations if our Water Commissioner determines ground water is being exposed without a well permit or there is determined to be a wasteful use of ground water occurring. Sincerely, Hal D. Simpson, P.E. Deputy State Engineer HDS/JCM:ma/8131H cc: Alan Berryman, Div. Eng. Keith Delventhal, Water Comm.