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mentioned, some limited irrigation is conducted in the Lightner Creek <br />• drainage and certainly in the Animas River drainage. <br />Floor Irrigation <br />No flood irrigation has occurred on Coal Gulch. The land and topography <br />of those areas that are currently used as pasturelands with some <br />historic flood irrigation is shown on the Pre-Mining and Post-Mining <br />Land Use Map (Map 9). <br />No area along Coal Gulch could be effectively flood irrigated, given the <br />narrow canyon walls, the lack of appropriate soils, and the fact that <br />State Highway 160 currently dissects much of Coal Gulch. <br />Sub-Irrigation <br />Due to the narrow area in the flood plain of Coal Gulch, the overall <br />• slope of the drainage, and the expected clay soils, the likelihood of a <br />developed sub-irrigation in this area is questionable. <br />Water Quality and Quantity <br />As explained in Section 2.04, Coal Gulch is an ephemeral drainage. <br />Water quality information on Cherry Gulch across from the planned <br />surface mining operations, as well as the confluence of Lightner Creek <br />and Coal Gulch, are set forth in Exhibit 11, Water Quality Analyses. <br />Water flow information for the Animas River near Durango is set forth in <br />Exhibit 12, Water Flow Information. <br />Aerial Photograph Analysis <br />There are no infrared aerial photographs of the area. Therefore, no <br />investigation of late summer and fall season differences in vegetative <br />growth between upland and valley floor areas can be made. However, the <br />• field investigation of the site shows that the vegetation of the upland <br />2.06-5 <br />