2008-03-03_PERMIT FILE - C2006085 (16)

Home Browse Search

• azea aze summarized in Appendix A, and shown in Figure 5. Chandler Creek is considered an ephemeral stream system that originates in the Wet Mountains, southwest of the permit area. Typically, Chandler Creek flows only during infrequent periods of high precipitation. According to the District Water Commissioner, there are no water rights administered on Chandler Creek or the other Arkansas River tributaries in this permit azea. The headwaters of the Chandler Creek drainage basin (see Figure 1) are approximately 10,000 feet in elevation and can receive substantial amounts of snow. Although Chandler Creek is not gaged by the U.S. Geological Survey, streamflow can be inferred from diversion data available for structures on Newlin and Hardscrabble Creeks. The records reveal that neazlytwo-thirds of the average annual runoff occurred during the three spring months of April, May and June, a direct result of snowmelt. Since snowfall and snowpack accumulation generally increase with elevation, high azeas of a snowmelt drainage basin contribute more to spring runoff than low azeas. The Northfield Mine permit property lies at an elevation range of between 6,100 and 6,700 feet, which is relatively low in the basin and experiences relatively little snowpack accumulation. As a result, this land azea contributes little to Chandler Creek's or the other smaller drainages' total amount of runoff. • Ground Water Northfield installed a system of three ground water monitoring wells on the mine permit property in 2005. As a result, only a limited amount of ground water and water level data are currently available. Three wells aze currently being monitored. Hydrographs of the monitor well water levels are included in Appendix B and illustrate the historic water level data. Table 1 lists the monitor wells and the well locations aze shown on Figure 6. Two of the original monitoring wells collapsed and were redrilled. Based on the water level data, water levels have appazently stabilized in all the wells. Some wells maybe added to the program, if additional data aze needed. The direction of ground water movement can be predicted by contouring water level elevations in observation wells and drawing ground water flow lines at right angles to the contour lines. Water levels in the three currently operational monitor wells penetrating the coals have initially shown some variability, but generally indicate ground water movement to the north, somewhat parallel to Chandler Creek drainage. Figure 6 shows the estimated ground water level contours. The monitoring wells aze intended to reveal water levels in the • -8-