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iii iiiiii-iuiiiiii <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF MINERALS AND GEOLOGY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman SL, Room 215 D I v 15 1 0 N O F <br />Denver, Colorado 80'_03 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3567 MINERAL 5 <br />FAR: (305) 832-8106 & <br />GEOLOGY <br />RECLAMATION <br />DATE: November 15, 2000 MINING•SAFETY <br />rte. <br />Bi.'I Dwens <br />TO: Jim Burnell `~• governor <br />Greg E Walther <br />~~ Execmive Director <br />FROM: Jim Pendleton <br />Michael B. Lung <br />Division Director <br />RE: West Elk IYline - right Water Engineer's <br />Technical Report - "Pre-Mining Stream Channel <br />Conditions on Deep Creek" <br />I completed a review of the Technical Memorandum prepared by <br />Wright Water Engineers (WWE) for the Mountain Coal Company's <br />(MCC) West Elk Mine's Deep Creek. The Division had placed the <br />condition of completion of pre-mining sediment and channel <br />hydraulics studies upon approval of the Box Canyon revision. The <br />purpose of these comparative studies are to determine what <br />hydraulic loss results from mining beneath and adjacent to the creek. <br />MCC contracted with WWE for the completion of the required studies. <br />Hydraulic observations were performed by Ernie Pemberton and <br />Jonathan Kelly of WWE in cooperation with Dave Nicewicz of West Elk <br />Land Surveying during June of 2000. West Elk Land Surveying also <br />performed the thalweg and cross section land surface surveys for the <br />study, as depicted on Drawing Number 1. The pre-mining and post- <br />mining survey surfaces were used to calculate and compare the <br />observed and projected water movement within the surface and <br />adjacent geologic materials of Deep Creek. <br />The report presents a summary of field hydraulic observations. <br />Eight photographs are provided to verify the observations. Like <br />most upland stream channels, the flood plain of Deep Creek is <br />scattered with dead log snags. The sediment along the channel is <br />predominantly sand sized (approximately 0.30 millimeters in <br />diameter), including large cobbles and boulders between 1 and 2 feet <br />in diameter. The photographs display in general that Deep Creek is a <br />well incised perennial stream which is degrading over time. The <br />boulders and cobbles scattered over the channel floor suggest that <br />