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--` <br />• line of Presentation • <br />~~ , :Increased streambank erosion upstream of Animas Aggregate <br />1?it 1176-20, affecting the properties of Chapin, Walker, and <br />Coates <br />Intr~iuction+ <br />Ids are bringing this issue to the commissioners for help <br />in reaching a solution to the problem of radically increased <br />river bank erosion. We see a sohition to include stopping <br />the cause of the increased erosion and restoring the bank <br />to i't's NATURAL state. <br />.As we see it, our acreage is being deliberately washed <br />into the aggregate "pool", processed, and sold for profit (An- <br />imas Agg.). <br />Loess <br />Approx120' in the last 3 years. Accelerated loss in the past <br />week approximately 40'. This changes daily, and actually by <br />the minute. Loss also includes manyPonderosa pines; sapplings, <br />young trees, and trees 100 years old. <br />Natural Causes <br />Natural erosion is to be expected along any streambed, <br />fluctuating with the previous winters' snowpack. This natural <br />erosion would have been acceptable. <br />'The Chapin and Coates' homes were constructed in accord- <br />ance with county codes so that actual flooding would not do <br />costly damage. Flooding IS NOT the problem, in this area. <br />UN-Natural Causes (as we have obse:tied them on a daily basis) <br />1) Change in stream course <br />In winter of 1985, Animas Aggregates closed off the <br />west channel (that passes by the Thompson-Thomas <br />property), and built a dam across the Animas River <br />which diverted the flow into the Eastern channel <br />(which carries water during peak flows normally) <br />This diversion enabled them to widen and deepen the <br />"pool" downstream of the dam and the affected pro- <br />perty. This extreme widening and deepening of the <br />river bed <br />2)INCREASED THE GRADIENT OF THE RIVER, causing the flow <br />(which was then pushed right up against the East bank) <br />to accelerate greatly. The effect of this acceleration <br />is radical undercutting of the east bank, and swift <br />sluffing into the river. <br />#°*• The loss of trees and vegetation along the bank, together with <br />the newly shaped steep pitch of the bank will make future peak <br />flows(7,000+ cfs) increasingly dangerous. <br />We do not claim to be hydrologists; having consulted experts <br />in the aggregate industry, and engineers including Leroy Black <br />of Ute Engineering(who is employed by Animas Water Company) <br />we are repeatedly convinced that the mining activity downstream <br />from our property is the cause of the accelerated erosion. <br />7 <br />