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Coal Creek drains the relatively open Coal <br /> Basin area and then passes through a water gap in the bedrock <br /> units of the Grand Hogback. At this point , the stream is <br /> confined to a narrow channel . The drainage opens up on the <br /> east side of the Grand Hogback where Coal Creek discharges <br /> into the Crystal River . <br /> Coal. Creek and its tributaries are monitored <br /> at a number of locations by the U . S . Forest Service , U . S . <br /> Geological Survey and by Mid-Continent Resources . These <br /> monitor sites are indicated on Exhibit IV-C-I. <br /> Discharge records of the Crystal River , at <br /> Placita, indicate flow characteristics of the river 3 miles <br /> above its confluence with Coal Creek. This data is summarized <br /> for the period of record on Table III-C-6 . and is presented <br /> in Appendix III-C-2 . Daily records were taken from October <br /> 1965 to September 1973 , and were later obtained from March <br /> 1975 and discontinued in September , 1977 . These readings <br /> indicate the expected stream flow pattern for an alpine to <br /> subalpine environment . Stream flows decline in October , <br /> reaching a yearly base flow low in February and March , when <br /> most of the precipitation from the late fall and winter is <br /> contained as a snowpack on the mountain slopes . The spring <br /> thaw and runoff begins in late March and April , peaking in <br /> June when stream flow is up to thirty times the low winter <br /> flow. Continued snow melt and. summer thunderstorms supply <br /> runoff throughout the summer , with flow declining in the <br /> 32 <br />