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Doc Date:1211112001 <br />~/~ Section 779.16 (a) Continued. <br />I <br />General Surface Water Characteristics <br />iii iiiiiiiiiiiu iii <br />sss <br />Revised 11/20/80 <br />General Area <br />The surface water hydrology of the general area is characteristic <br />of a high altitude, semiarid environment. Site-specific climatolo- <br />gical data are lacking for the Kerr Permit Area as described under <br />Section 779.18. Consultation with Dr. Thomas B. McKee, Colorado <br />State Climatologist at Colorado State University over the question <br />of the exact amount of precipitation encountered at the Marr Mine <br />was made during the preparation of Section 779.18 due to Dr. <br />McKee's familiarity with the area and due to the fact he has been <br />commissioned by the BLM to prepare a climatological report of Lands <br />within the Kerr Mine Area for the BLM-EMIRA study ;being conducted <br />in this area. Of the three sources of information available for <br />this area: Walden data, data published by NOAA and data collected <br />by Kerr Coal, Dr. McKee recommended that the Walden climatological <br />. data be used as a basis for estimating annual precipitation at the <br />Kerr Mine Area because it was more specific to the area and un- <br />doubtedly more reliable than precipitation estimates published in <br />the NOAA Atlas. The data collected by Kerr Coal were not used due <br />to the short duration of reliable data available, Equipment mal- <br />functions of the Kerr weather site have resulted in such limited <br />periods of data that it is impossible to make comparisons with the <br />long-term data available from the Sdalden station. <br />The 20-year precipitation average for the period from 1951-1970 <br />from the Walden Station is 9.90 inches of precipitation. (Table <br />15, Walden, Colorado, Average Monthly Precipitation.) Since preci- <br />pitation in the North Park Region typically increases from north to <br />south and from west to east, utilizing the data from Walden, <br />Colorado, of 9.90 inches, Kerr Coal has estimated the annual preci- <br />pitation at the Kerr Mine Area to be 11.0 inches. This estimate is <br /> consistent with the BLM estimate of the annual precipitation at the <br /> Kerr Mine Area. (See Exhibit 5=,~ Coal Lease Application C-22777 <br />779-39 as <br />