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Revision <br />February 1982 <br />is encountered (U.S. Department of Interior 1978). The shale zones in the <br />formation do not hold water but do transmit some water in the fracture <br />systems. Coal can have secondary permeability but does not exhibit primary <br />permeability. <br />The Rollins Sandstone Member of the Mesaverde Formation is the first <br />permeable layer above the impermeable Mancos Shale Formation. Due to its <br />limited primary and secondary permeability, the member is considered a <br />limited aquifer in the area. Yields are usually 10 gpm and total dissolved <br />solids average around 3000 mg/1 for this alkaline water (U.S. Department of <br />Interior 1978). Known uses of water from this limited aquifer are pre- <br />sented in Appendix XXIV-5, Table III A.1, and Figure III A.1. <br />Bowman (1980) drilled four holes through the Bowie Member into the <br />Rollins Sandstone Member from within the Hawk's Nest Mine. Since water was <br />used as the circulating fluid, direct hydrologic data were not taken but <br />one hole was completed as a degasification well. Bowman concluded that the <br />coal seams were dry and the small amount of water encountered was due to <br />fractured sandstones between the Band C coal seams. The methane gas pro- <br />duced from the coal seams would push the water out of the well at about <br />0.33 gpm. The water was an alkaline sodium-bicarbonate type with 8,532 <br />mg/1 of total dissolved solids. <br />BEAK (1980) drilled three holes using air which penetrated the Paonia <br />Shale Member. One hole (WSC 1) penetrated 45 feet below the E Seam and was <br />dry the entire length. The other two holes drilled close by hit water 25 <br />feet below the E Seam in the same sandstone which was dry in WSC 1. The <br />only explanation is that the second holes intersected a fracture system in <br />the sandstone. The E Seam was intersected at an elevation below and down <br />2.04-23 <br />- ..: '~`°S.T:tii°R.1~.iw~ure+.rirAr`a. :~re.s _ _ '- <br />