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1.1 Introduction <br />Oxbow Mining, LLC operates the Sanborn Creek and Elk Creek Mines. The surface <br />facilities for the mines are located immediately north of the town of Somerset, Colorado in <br />Gunnison County. The Sanborn Creek Mine portals aze located about one mile east and the Elk <br />Creek Mine is located about a half mile north of Somerset and State Highway 133. Coal from <br />the Sanborn Creek Mirie is conveyed to the surface facilities where, along with coal from other <br />mines in the azea, is loaded onto rail cars for shipment. The initial development mining in the <br />Elk Creek Mine began in late 2001 and coal was hauled by truck to the stockpile. <br />The Sanborn Creek and Elk Creek Mines' surface facilities aze located within the North <br />Fork of the Gunnison River drainage, which is a tributary to the Colorado River. The North Fork <br />drainage ranges in altitude from 5,550 feet to 12,000 feet and drains 1,253 squaze miles. The <br />average annual dischazge of the North Fork of the Gunnison River at the U.S. Geological Survey <br />gauging station 2.3 miles east of Somerset is 313,300 acre feet of water, or an average dischazge <br />of 457 cubic feet per second. Peak flows generally occur in May as a result of snowmelt with <br />minimum flows during the winter months. <br />' Surface drainage from fhe permit azea runs directly to the North Fork of the Gunnison <br />River. One perennial, one intermittent, and eleven ephemeral creeks and gulches drain the <br />permit azea. From west to east, the creeks shown on drawing 2.04-M6 aze known as: <br />Hubbazd Creek Perennial <br />Bear Creek Ephemeral <br />' Elk Creek Ephemeral <br />Sanborn Creek Ephemeral <br />Unnamed Drainage Ephemeral <br />' Coal Gulch Ephemeral <br />A-Gulch Ephemeral <br />B-Gulch Ephemeral <br />C-Gulch Ephemeral <br />Hawksnest Creek Ephemeral <br />Hoopla Gulch Ephemeral <br />Bazdine Canyon Ephemeral <br />Thompson Creek Intermittent <br />