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• 1.1 Introduction <br />Oxbow Mining, Inc., operates the Sanborn Creek Mine, and the now abandoned Somerset <br />Mine. The Somerset Mine surface facilities are located immediately north of the Town of <br />Somerset. The Sanborn Creek Mine portals are located about one mile east of Somerset, <br />Colorado near State Highway 133. Coal from the Sanborn Creek Mine is conveyed to the <br />surface facilities where, along with coal from other mines in the area, is loaded onto rail cars for <br />shipment. <br />The Somerset Mine, Sanborn Creek Mine, and surface facilities are located within the <br />North Fork of the Gunnison River drainage, which is a tributary to the Colorado River. The <br />North Fork drainage ranges in altitude from 5,550 feet to 12,000 feet and drains 1,253 square <br />miles, producing an average discharge of some 470,000 acre feet of water or an average <br />discharge of about 650 cubic feet per second (Department of Agriculture 1962). The average <br />annual discharge of the North Fork of the Gunnison River at the U.S. Geological Survey gauging <br />station 2.3 miles east of Somerset is 313,300 acre feet of water, or an average discharge of 457 <br />cubic feet per second. Peak flows generally occur in May as a result of snowmelt with minimum <br />flows during the winter months. <br />Surface drainage from the permit area runs directly to the North Fork of the Gunnison <br />River. One perennial, three intermittent, and eight creeks and gulches drain the permit area. <br />• From west to east, the creeks shown on drawing E8-3286 are known as: <br />Hubbard Creek Perennial <br />Bear Creek Intermittent <br />Elk Creek Intermittent <br />Sanborn Creek Intermittent <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 />Bardine Canyon Ephemeral <br />Thompson Creek Intermittent <br />• <br />2 <br />