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response to permit Stipulation No. 7.) .. ;Bear Coal Company utilizes potable water from the Somerset Domestic Waterworks and From an alluvial well for domestic purposes. Water used for mine and surface facilities, dust suppression and equipment wash down is pumped from the North Fork of the Gunnison River at the rate of approximately 19 acre-feet per year. The total estimated consumption of water which is tributary to the North Fork of the Gunnison River will be 19 acre-feet per year. This consumption represents 0.006 percent of the mean annual yield of the river at Somerset. This mine is closed as of 1997. The Terror Creek Coal yard withdraws water from two sources. Water for dust suppression is supplied by senior water rights from the Deertrail Ditch. The ditch withdraws water from Hubbard Creek. Use averages 5,000 eallons per day (5.6 acre feedyear). Previously, this water was used [o irrigate orchards where [he loadout is now situated. A domestic well which supplies about 450 gallons per day (0.5 acre feedyear) is used for domestic use at the loadout office. Terror Creek's consumption amounts to 0.0002 2 percent of the NoRh Fork's mean annual yield at Somerset. The Bowie No. l Mine pumps approximately 30,000 gpd (23.02 acre-feet per year) from Steven's Gulch for coal spraying, dust control, fire control, and potable water supplies. This depletion has been augmented by an approved augmentation plan through Division 4 Water Court (see Water Rights Study in the Orchazd Valley Mine's Volume 5 and SA), which utilizes releases from East Beckwith No. 1 Reservoir, located in the Anthracite drainage, to replace water removed from Steven's Gulch. Most of the potable water supply used for showering, etc., is treated at the site and released to the sediment ponds. The loss due to evaporation of the water in the ponds is expected [o have a minimal impact on water yields of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Another consumptive use of water by the Orchazd Valley Mine will be water absorbed on coal which is transported out of the basin. CWI is supplying water consumption information annually to [he Division as a committed condition of their 1981 permit approval. The worst-case depletion to [he flow in [he North Fork (61.0 acre-feet per yeaz) fora 250-day work yeaz should be 0.02 percent of the mean annual yield in the river. The Sanbom Creek Mine and Sanborn Creek East Mine section of the previously existing Somerset Mine wilt use about 35,000 gallons per day for underground dust suppression. This water will be pumped from the surface, using an existing surface water right of l.8 cfs. Assuming a 16-hour work day and a 210-day work yeaz, the total consumption could approach 80 acre-feet per year. This • amounts to approximately .03 percent of the mean annual yield of the North Fork of the Gunnison River. Any additional surface use of water will also draw upon the 1.8 cfs surface water right. The Bowie No. 2 Mine will draw water from the Deer Trail Ditch. Bowie Resources, Limited holds a water right of 0.5 cubic feet per second on this ditch. Total annual consumptive use is estimated by Bowie Resources, Limited to be about 124 acre-feet per year. This amounts [o about 0.04% of the mean annual yield of the river. The total estimated water consumed by all of the mines in the North Fork of [he Gunnison Drainage Basin is 435 acre-feet per yeaz. This is approximately 0.14 percent of [he mean annual yield of the river. This indicates that the total coal mining activities within the North Fork of the Gunnison Drainage Basin has a very minor impact on the quantity of water available in the Basin. Flooded Workings Study A projection of flooded workings water quality was made, in the unlikely even[ [hat water would dischazge through the permanent seals into the North Fork of the Gunnison drainage. The quality of mine water may best be represented by data from the Oliver Mine adit. The Oliver Mine workings have been flooded for several decades and chemical equilibria aze probably dominated by reduced conditions. Concentrations of selected major ions from the Oliver Mine adi[ water samples collected between 1979 and 1982 indicate some seasonal trends in water quality. Solute concentrations tend to be slightly lower during the spring than in the fall during any given year. This is probably attributable to snowmelt recharge of shallow ground water systems [hat contribute the majority of [he inflow to the main. • 19