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• The Operator proposes that all baseline ground water samples be analyzed for the <br />following constituents: <br />Bicarbonate Ammonia <br />Calcium Nitrate <br />Carbonate Potassium <br />Chloride Total Dissolved Solids <br />Copper Sulfate <br />Hardness Zinc <br />Iron Magnesium <br />Estimates of total dissolved solids concentrations were calculated from the field <br />conductivity measurements and used as a check on laboratory measurements. These <br />data plus the proposed samples and the baseline data will allow adequate routine <br />monitoring of the ground water quality. In addition, the program allowed calculation of <br />ion balances, and preparation of trilinear diagrams. <br />A more detailed monitoring program is not warranted since ground water encountered <br />by mining activities is percolating away from the surface and moving into the deeper <br />parts of the Piceance Creek structural basin. At short distances from the outcrop, <br />ground water in the sandstones and coals is located at uneconomic drilling depths <br />(see Table 3.6.10, Examination of the data presented in this table reveals that <br />because the aquifers dip so steeply to the west they are soon buried by several <br />thousand feet of overburden materials. Because yields from the sandstones are <br />projected to be low in this ground water environment, it is unlikely that wells can be <br />constructed economically into these aquifers. The land rear the mine is not <br />topographically suitable for agriculture, and if stock-watering wells are constructed <br />near or above the mine, such wells will be completed in shallow sandstones and other <br />aquifers that are closer to the land surface than those adjacent to the mine workings. <br />In addition, the quality of water in the sandstones probably deteriorates with increasing <br />depth and distance into the basin away from the outcrop. It is likely that the water <br />would be of such low quality as to make it undesirable for domestic or municipal use. <br />3-60 June 1998 <br />l~'N-03 <br />7,E-zo <br />