1994-09-28_REPORT - M1977448 - Laserfiche WebLink

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BLMiUSFS ID :700-322-7261 SEP 28 '94 13 :20 No .004 P .05 S.ptsmbsr 14, 1994 field notes from L.on Canyon County Road inspection Saint Petrick Nine Permit Area 3800 (00-034) Tom Schreiner, CMLRD Danna Knox, BLN env. protection epee. Location: Lion Canyon (Vague Canyon) Road and St. Patrick Mines T. 47N., R. 20W., Section 28 The gate directly north of highway 90 and Lion Canyon (Vague Canyon) was open. The highway gate is generally closed. The road gate was also opens Vague Canyon area does not have an active grazing permit, and sometimes this gate is open, sometimes closed. No recent vehicle tracks were visible. one significant erosion channel is developing prior to the second gate. This channel is directing water and sediment to the canyon floor directly into the historic sediment collection zone, and whether or not they enter above or below Vague Canyon Ditch diversion was not determined. There is a 0.3cfs ditch right, and waters can be utilized for irrigation or may discharge directly into LaSal Creek in route to Dolores River. Vehicle traffic cannot use the road above the gate. The inspection I made on August 25 showed that a 4-wheel drive vehicle had gone up the road for approximately 1/4 mile above the gate, could not turn around, and had backed down the roadway. Mike Moore said he .had also had his loader on the road in April and had to turn around and come back. Tom and I noted that where cap rock is close to the surface of the road, sediments have been eroded to bare rock surface. Where fill material, or native soils are still covering the rock surface, it is evident that soil is being removed as water rune down the west bank, crosses the road and travels down slope into Lyon Canyon. The distance between the roadwater crossings varied, with some crossings as close as 4' apart. The depth of the washout varies in depth and breadth, with the maximum out being about 2 feet across and 3 feet deep. No water runs through culvert #1. The west and of the culver is plugSad and the east and in buried. we stopped and photo documented tho area where the road goes directly across the canyon. At this "natural low water crossing" , flooding has created a alluvial fan of small rocks and sediment. Numeraus large bolder appear to have fallen off the "Utah aide" of the canyon and have tumbled down into the narrow canyon. This blockage may have pushed waters beyond their channel geometry limits. Traveling on up the steeply eloped roadway, we noted water dripping off the rock surfaces above the road cut. Large bolder had fallen onto the road surface and extend more than 1/2 way across the narrow road. Runoff water is creating a channel that is running down the inside of the road cut to the alluvium deposit, where it crosses the road and rejoins waters coming down Lion Canyon's water channel. The road switches back across the slope and travels on at a lesser grade in a westerly direction. Along this cut, rocks of a smaller size have fallen onto the road, sections of the bank have sloughed off onto the road surface. The county road crosses over a small culvert and continues on to the northwest. A short distance past the culvert, tha access spurs for the Blue Cap and Black Hat mine connect to the county road. (legal description of Black Hat/Slue Cap: T 28S., R.268, Sao 28, 29) The road continues on to the mesa top where it connects with a complex pattern of drill roads, mine road, and roads used by cattlemen, hunters etc. Maps show the road as a connecting roadway. Just prior to the culvert, a spur road, constructed partly of mine waste material connects with the county road. Near the take off point of the spur road, there is i