REP07762 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

i~ I' 1.1 Introduction Oxbow Mining, Inc., operates the Sanborn Creek Mine. The Sanborn Creek Mine ' surface facilities aze located immediately north of the Town of Somerset. The Sanbom Creek Mine portals aze located about one mile east of Somerset, Colorado neaz State Highway 133. Coal from the Sanborn Creek Mine is conveyed to the surface facilities where, along with coal ' from other mines in the area, is loaded onto rail cars for shipment. The Sanbom Creek Mine and surface facilities are located within the North Fork of the ' Gunnison River drainage, which is a tributary to the Colorado River. The North Fork drainage ranges in altitude from 5,550 feet to 12,000 feet and drains 1,253 squaze miles, producing an average dischazge of some 470,000 acre feet of water or an average discharge of about 650 cubic 1 feet per second (Department of Agriculture 1962). The average annual dischazge of the North Fork of the Gunnison River at the U.S. Geological Survey gauging station 2.3 miles east of Somerset is 313,300 acre feet of water, or an average discharge of 457 cubic feet per second. ' Peak flows generally occur in May as a result of snowmelt with minimum flows during the winter months. ' Surface drainage from the permit azea runs directly to the North Fork of the Gunnison River. One perennial, one intermittent, and eleven ephemeral creeks and gulches drain the permit azea. From west to east, the creeks shown on drawing 2.04-M6 aze known as: I Hubbazd Creek Bear Creek Elk Creek Sanbom Creek Unnamed Drainage Coal Gulch A-Gulch B-Gulch Perennial Ephemeral Ephemeral Ephemeral Ephemeral Ephemeral Ephemeral Ephemeral Ephemeral Ephemeral Ephemeral Ephemeral Intermittent 1 C-Gulch Hawksnest Creek Hoopla Gulch ' Bardine Canyon Thompson Creek 2