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• variations. A gradual decrease (approximately 24 feet) in water levels for Well 35-VC <br />since the spring of 1986 is likely due to a slow dewatering of the Wolf Creek coal due to <br />mining. This well is further downgradient than the above-mentioned wells, which may <br />explain why this well has shown a greater decline in water level. The slight increase in <br />water levels noted in the past two years (three-foot rise since 1990) a[ this well may be <br />due to an increase in summer rainfall, indicating that the decrease in water levels in <br />prior years may have also been in part due to decreased precipitation for those years. <br />Spoils. Three wells, 22-5, 23-5, and 24-5 ere completed in the upper region of spoils <br />(below the USGS 1980 lysimeter study site) which is generally unsaturated. Well 23-5 <br />sometimes shows water in late February, Merc h, and April as snow melts quickly off this <br />westerly facing slope. Well 22-5 showed a two-foot increase in water level after a slug <br />test in October, 1981 and increased slightly only during spring runoff. Well 24-5 has <br />been dry for the entire period of record. <br />Three wells, 25-5, 26-5, and 27-5 are situated in lower spoils adjacent to the Wadge <br />Impoundment which receives spoils water discharge. All three of these wells were <br />• outfitted with continuous recorders operated by the U S Geological Survey (USGS) until the <br />end of 1983. Well 25-5, the highest upgradient of these three wells on the spoils slope, <br />indicated an absence of recharge in 1987, 1988, 1990, and 1991, but exhibited recharge in <br />1989 and 1992. Well 27-5, lowest of the three, shows normal seasonal changes. The eater <br />levels in Wells 27-5 end 26.5 are most likely dependent upon the water level in the Wadge <br />Impoundment located 50 to 100 feet away, respectively. These findings are also supported <br />by the USGS personnel operating the recorders prior to 1984. The low water levels noted <br />in August 1987 at Well 27-5 ere likely a result of the lowering of the level of the Wadge <br />Impoundment from pumping for the truck wash facilities mentioned earlier in this text. <br />Seven new spoil wells were completed in the fell of 1987. Three (Well 54-5, 60-5, and <br />61-5) were completed upgradient of the Spoils Spring k3 area, while four (wells 62-5 to <br />65-5) were completed in the Spoils Spring p1 area (see Exhibit 7-2). The purpose of <br />placing several wells at each site was to accurately define the potentiometric surface of <br />the spoils aquifer et each location. This data will be presented in an upcoming OSGS <br />report. These water levels exhibit normal seasonal variations. well 65-5 has been dry <br />for the entire period of record. It is located in an area where the spoils are <br />. unsaturated. <br />5 <br />