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Results and Discussions <br />Only one drainage, No-Name Gulch, (Sections 34, 33, 27, 28 and 21 of T6N, R91W), <br />had surface water flow each year from 1974-1979. That flow was not consistent <br />year-round nor was it continuous from top to bottom of the system. The in[erflow <br />from occasional ground water seeps along its course is ultimately contained with- <br />in Loudy Reservoir (NW 1/4 SW 1/2 Section 21), a stock watering dam near the <br />juncture of Trapper Mine's primary access road and State Highway 13 and does not <br />reach the Yampa River. Ecology Consultants, Inc. (1972) had identified it (No- <br />Name Gulch) as the major water body in the near vicinity of the proposed mine <br />plan area. <br />Five (5) sampling sites were selected and samples on No-Name Gulch (Map M44). <br />These sites all fall within the advancing disturbance perimeter of Ashmore Pit. <br />Ground water interflow over 1.5 miles north or below the proposed mine plan area <br />provides the most persistent water flow within the drainage. That section was <br />.not sampled because it will not be disturbed other than sedimentation structures <br />for less than 0.5 mile which will provide more substantial habitat than destroy. <br />The first site sampled on No-Name Gulch (Site 7kN1-NW 1/4, NW 1/4, Section 34, <br />T6N, R91W) had water less than two inches deep that slowly meandered through <br />clumps of vegetation. The drainage was 20-25 feet wide at the sample site and <br />had a mud and grass bottom riven by cattle watering at the site. The water temp- <br />erature was 27°C (80.6°F). Ten taxa of be nthic macroinvertebrates were identi- <br />fied (Mariah, 1980). All were predominantly lentic or lotic depositional inhabi- <br />tants. No obligate rheophiles were collected. Fingernail clams (Sphaerium sp.); <br />Cube worms or blood worms (Tubifex and Limnodrilus sp.); and mayflies (Callibae- <br />tis sp.) were the most abundant. The other species were represented by one or a <br />few specimens. <br />The second site (Site 7~N2-NW 1/4, NW 1/4, Section 34, T6N, R91W) was similar in <br />appearance to the first. The water temperature was 22°C (71.6°F). <br />• <br />J-6 <br />