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• minor or no flows only during the spring runoff. None of the stations at Mine 2 had significant <br />flows in 1997. Most of the Eckman Park and Mine 1 ponds are in the Foidel Creek drainage, <br />only Pond H (Site 57) is in the Middle Creek drainage. Pond M on Mine 2 is in the Fish Creek <br />drainage. Pond D (Site 84) receives runoff from the waste rock disposal area as well as runoff <br />from the surface mine. In addition, mine water from the Foidel Creek underground mine is also <br />pumped to Pond D. Pond K (Site 41) drains to Foidel Creek and had no discharge during <br />1997. <br />Flows <br />The flow rate data for the effluent stations are summarized on Table 44. The historic <br />discharge data for the ponds with significant 1997 water discharges at Mine 1 are presented in <br />Figures 64 through 75. Discharges from these ponds are affected by seasonal variation in <br />surface runoff and spoil spring flows. All of the plots show the typical seasonal variation with <br />high flows during spring runoff. Historically, discharges from the ponds ceased in the summer <br />and did not begin again until the next spring. Three ponds, A (Site 39), D (Site 84) and F (Site <br />87), began discharging year round in late 1984. This is due to the spoil springs located in the <br />drainages of Ponds A, D, and F and the past underground mine discharge to Pond D. Due to <br />utilization of Site 114 for water supplies by Twentymile Coal Company, Sites 114 and 87 <br />experienced extended periods of no discharge during 1997. <br />During the 1997 irrigation period, Pond A exhibited a mean flow of approximately 2.7 cfs, Pond <br />D 0.9 cfs and Pond F 0.01 cfs. Pond F did not discharge significant amounts in the 1997 <br />irrigation season, and has shown a decreased flow since 1991, due to periodic pumping of the <br />• pond and Spring 114 for mine use. The discharge from Pond D was sustained throughout the <br />year as shown on Figure 73. Flows from these ponds have changed Foidel Creek from an <br />ephemeral to a perennial stream. Peak discharges from the ponds do not seem to have <br />changed significantly because the spoil spring water would probably have discharged as <br />snowmelt runoff anyway. <br />Water Quality <br />Summaries of the water quality data for the Mine 1 and Eckman Park ponds are presented on <br />Tables 45 through 48. The water quality summary for Mine 2's Pond M is provided as Table <br />49. The field conductivity data shows some typical seasonal variation: the water quality <br />improves during spring runoff. Ponds A, D, F, and H appear to be impacted by spoil spring <br />inflows. The discharge rates from H are not significant during irrigation season and therefore <br />do not cause any significant impacts. <br />For the ponds affected by spoil springs, increased calcium, magnesium, sulfate, dissolved <br />solids, and SAR are typically observed. No significant changes in parameters were observed <br />for the ponds during the 1997. Conductivity and TDS levels observed on Trout Creek have <br />recently been observed at levels lower than predicted by the CYCC PHC. The levels <br />documented during 1997 at site 1005, the downstream monitoring site established for Permit <br />No. C-82-056, were well below 2000 mg/I and therefore likely did not cause or have the <br />potential to cause material damage. The water quality of Trout Creek was better than <br />maximum levels predicted in the past salt-loading calculations performed as part of the <br />"probably hydrologic impacts' section of the mine permit application with a maximum value of <br />620 mg/I recorded in August of 1997. Only insignificant discharges at Mine 2 were recorded <br />• during spring runoff. Therefore, no impacts to Fish Creek were observed as a result of runoff <br />from Mine No. 2 in 1997. <br />EP97TEXT.DOC 07/01/98 9 <br />