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Three wells, 25-5, 26-5, and 27•S are situated in lower spoils adjacent to the Wadge • <br />Impoundment which receives spoils water discharge. 0.ll 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 />all other years since 1983. Yell 27-5, lowest of the three, shows that its water levels <br />ere most likely dependent upon the water level in the Wadge Impoundment located 50 feet <br />away. These findings are also supported by the USCS personnel operating the recorders <br />prior to 1984. Well 26-5, located between Wells 25-5 and 27•S, exhibits very little <br />seasonal variability (0.46 feet in 1993) and ua ter levels higher than either 25-5 or 27-5. <br />This is not a normal ground water level gradient; therefore, its water Levels should be <br />reviewed with caution. Perhaps, as with Well 22-5, water is being trapped in the <br />borehole. <br />Seven spoil wells were completed in the fall of 1987. Three (Well 59-5, 60-5, and 61-5) <br />were completed upgradient of the Spoils Spring M3 area, while four (Yells 62-5 to 65-5) <br />were completed in the SpoiLS Spring p1 area. The purpose of placing 'several wells at each <br />site was to accurately define the potentiometric surface of the spoils aquifer et each • <br />location. This data will be presented in en upcoming USGS report. These wafer levels <br />exhibit normal seasonal variations with the highest water levels for the entire period of <br />record noted in 1993. Well 65-S has been dry for the entire period of record. It is <br />located in an area where the spoils ere unsaturated. <br />Ground Water Level Summary. All alluvial wells are showing distinct seasonal water level <br />fluctuations in response to periods of precipitation recharge or the lack of <br />precipitation. Overburden and coal well water levels are fluctuating in response to the <br />precipitation recharge, induced ground water flow to the mine pits, and in some cases, <br />changes in reservoir water levels. Spoil well water levels still indicate that only the <br />furthest downslope highwall portions of the spoil exhibit significant amounts of <br />saturation. Levels in a spoil well near the Yadge Impoundment is largely controlled by <br />water level fluctuations in the impoundment. Maximum water levels in many wells this year <br />were higher than they have been for several years (in many cases, since 1986) as a result <br />of high snowpack runoff. <br />Water Oualitv. Ground water samples were collected from 19 wells on a biannual basis. In <br />addition, one cell (42P1-LWI) that is required to be sampled did not have enough water [o <br />4 <br />