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West Elk Mine 2001 Annual Hydrology Report 26 <br />Well 96-27-1 is also completed in the strata above the E Seam near the eastern edge of active <br />• mining in Panel 14. Water level in this well dropped from about 1 to 5 feet between April and <br />September 2001 and has likely been caused by mining activities and drought conditions. <br />In the WY2000 AHR, Well RAV 4b was reported to have been affected by mining operations. <br />Water levels in RAV-4b fast lowered then recovered slightly in WY2000. This was related to the <br />fact that the well is completed in the Oliver No. 2 fault zone, which intersects the Box Canyon <br />Mains. The recovery continued in WY2001 relative to WY2000 in April (-4 feet) and June (-13 <br />feet) but dropped again in September by about 10 feet. The reactivity of this well is likely related <br />to the high hydraulic conductivity of the fault zone and distant mining operaflons. <br />The water level in well SO.W-1 went up in WY2001about 2 feet from WY2000. Well SO.W 1 is <br />completed in the B Seam at a depth of 1,380 feet, directly west of Panel 13. During WY2000 <br />mining was completed in western end of Panel 13. Increasing water levels noted in WY2001 are <br />likely caused by ground water recovery after completion of mining in the western part of Panel 13. <br />No other wells showed changes during WY2001. <br />6.0 ADEQUACY OF THE MONITORING PROGRAM <br />• In the past 3 yeazs the West Elk monitoring program was modified as a result of Technical <br />Revision No. 88 (approved in Augus[ 1999) and Minor Revision No. 208 (approved Januazy 1998). <br />However, the monitoring program in WY2001 remained the same as WY2000. In WY2001 the <br />West Elk Mine monitoring system was operating as designed and provided adequate data to assess <br />potential mine induced impacts to the area's hydrologic system, with the exception of data <br />collected at the Upper and Lower Deep Creek stations. <br />Pressure transducers and dataloggers were installed in the open stream channels at the Deep Creek <br />stations. Control channel sections were established at each site. Flumes were not installed at these <br />locations to limit impacts based on U.S. Forest Service (USFS) conditions. The Deep Creek stream <br />channel is very dynamic and has changed considerably since the sites were established. As a result <br />of erosion and sediment deposition the control channels used to calibrate the pressure transducers <br />and gauge the stream flows aze constantly changing and the flow data collected for Deep Creek in <br />WY2001 is not considered accurate. The data and graphs presented in this report were developed <br />using a rating curve developed from channel geometries measured in May 2002, but the raw data <br />remains suspect. <br />• <br />Project n 00301 HydroGeo, Inc. <br />