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West Elk Mine 2006 Annual Hydrology Report 14 <br />into Minnesota Reservoir and drain the SE mine panel area and the area located within the SOD <br />• area. This monitoring station was established in 1977 and is located north of Minnesota Reservoir <br />(Map 2). <br />3.1.3.6 Upper and Lower Minnesota Creek <br />Minnesota Creek is the major stream that drains the southern Project area. There are two <br />monitoring stations in Minnesota Creek: Upper Minnesota Creek, located upstream of Dry Fork; <br />and Lower Minnesota Creek, located downstream of Dry Fork. The Upper Minnesota Creek <br />monitoring station was established by the USFS in 1977 to collect baseline data for the SOD area <br />and to support the Minnesota Creek Augmentation Plan. This site has a 48-inch Parshall flume and <br />a data logger. The Lower Minnesota Creek station is maintained by the USGS. These two stations <br />monitor the hydrologic effects of mining the SE mine panel area (Map 2) and ultimately the SOD <br />mining. <br />3.1.4 New Stream Monitoring Sites Established in WY 2005 & WY 2006 <br />3.1.4.1 Deep Creek Ditch <br />Deep Creek Ditch is a trans-basin diversion ditch that routes water from the Little Gunnison River <br />• to Upper Dry Fork to provide irrigation water for users in the Minnesota Creek Basin. The average <br />annual diversions for the Deep Creek Ditch are about 1,000 ac-ft. A flume and continuous <br />recording device were installed in this ditch in the fall of 2006 (Map 2). Baseline monitoring of the <br />Deep Creek Ditch Flume began in the summer of 2006 and included measuring flow, collecting <br />field water quality data, and collecting samples for laboratory water quality analyses from the <br />installation date through October 2006 (CDMG, 2005b). Routine monitoring at this location will <br />begin in WY 2007. Data from this station will provide information on trans-basin flows versus <br />natural Dry Fork flows. <br />3.1.4.2 Minnesota Reservoir Flume <br />MCC installed a new 30-inch Parshall flume and a data logger on the lower Dry Fork above the <br />high water line of Minnesota Reservoir in October 2006 (beginning of WY 2007) (Map 2). This <br />monitoring station provides more accurate and more representative monitoring data since it isn't <br />influenced by variations related to reservoir activities. Baseline monitoring of the Minnesota <br />Reservoir Flume began in the spring of 2006 and included measuring instantaneous flow, <br />collecting field water quality data, and collecting samples for laboratory water quality analyses <br />• from April 2006 through October 2006 (CDMG, 2006). Routine monitoring at this location will <br />begin in WY 2007. <br />December 2007 HydroGeo, Inc. <br />