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• Geological and observation well data suggest faulting has created hydrological barriers to water <br />moving down dip. The amount of water available down dip in depths of excess of 1,000 feet is <br />limited in quantity and exhibits increasingly higher TDS values as water migrates down dip. In <br />~ addition to the geologic structure inhibiting ground water flow, the limited recharge area at the <br />• outcrop and subc~rop (Figure 1) and the poor hydraulic characteristics of the aquifer units <br />• themselves, further demonstrate that the use of these aquifers cannot practically support a <br />reasonable cost-effective future water supply in or adjacent to the mine site. <br />• 4.3 Water Rights <br />Over 125 water right records within two miles of the permit boundary were obtained from the <br />Colorado State Engineers office and reviewed (Attachment A and Figure 6) to identify potential <br />ground water uses within two miles of the Mine permit boundary. Our review indicates that no <br />• ground water wells have been drilled to depths greater than 300 feet for domestic or agricultural <br />uses. The only wells that produce more than 15 gpm are in the Gunnison River (the River) <br />alluvium at depths less than 100 feet and no domestic or agricultural wells are in the units mined <br />or proposed to be mined by Bowie Resources. <br />4.4 Land Use <br />~ The Mine is located on the south-facing steep slope of the ridge bordering the North Fork of the <br />• River. The entrance to the Mine is greater than 800 feet above the saturated colluvial and alluvial <br />• materials associated with the North Fork of the Gunnison River. The land surface overlying <br />most of the Mine is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States <br />Forest Service -Gunnison National Forest, Paonia District (USFS). <br />• Current and future land uses, including the use of ground water, will be managed by the USFS <br />and the BLM. Current uses include recreation, .grazing, and underground mineral extraction. <br />Existing resource management plans suggest there is little to no possibility that the surface area <br />above the mine area will be developed in the future for use by the public or the government. <br />• There is also little to no possibility the aquifers below the mine area will be developed in the <br />• future for public use due to the costs to drill, and water quantity and quality from such aquifers <br />would be poor. <br />• Bowie Permit (De-cember 2001) suggests: <br />• TDS levels could exceed 5,000 mg/1 <br />• Well production rates would likely be less than 10 gallons per minute <br />• Transmiss:ivities which are extremely low are equal to or less than 1,750 gallons per day <br />per foot (C'olorado Westmoreland, Inc. 1982) <br />• • Sustained ;yields to wells could be less than one gallon a minute (Wright Water <br />• Engineers, correspondence to Jack Cline, Colorado Westmoreland, 1979) <br />4 <br />