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Mr. Richard Raines June 17, 2008 <br />Middle Poudre Combined Plan - Lafarge West, Inc. Page 3 of 9 <br />The total exposed surface area at the Greeley 35th Avenue Pit is 72.3 acres. According <br />to the information submitted, 52 acres of water surface was exposed within the reclamation <br />permit boundary prior to January 1, 1981. This results in 20.3 acres of exposed surface area <br />requiring replacement of depletions from evaporation. The 8.8 acre-feet of water used in <br />concrete production at the Greeley 35`h Avenue Pit is to be appropriated from well permit no. <br />47856-F. Lafarge West, Inc. filed for water storage right for this site in Case no. 98CW476 and <br />this case is currently pending. The site has been continuously dewatered at a rate of <br />approximately 1200 gallons per minute. <br />Mining at the East Rigden Pit has been completed and construction of a clay reservoir <br />liner is in process on the property. The total exposed surface area at this site is 23.2 acres. <br />According to the information submitted, 25 acres of water surface was exposed within the <br />reclamation permit boundary prior to January 1, 1981. Since the current exposed area is less <br />than the area exposed prior to January 1, 1981, there is no evaporation augmentation <br />requirement at this site, for this approval period. Hovkever, lagged depletions from past water <br />use total 1.24 acre-feet for this approval period. A storage water right for the East Rigden Pit is <br />pending in Division 1, Water Court, case no. 2001CW202. <br />The Three Bells Pit will include evaporation, water retained in the product and dust <br />control. Mining was re-started at the Three Bells Pit in February 2006 in an area of <br />approximately 20 acres. This site has been continuously dewatered at a rate of 1,200 gallons <br />per minute. <br />The Kyger Pit is an active mining site and will continue to include evaporation, water <br />retained in the product and dust control. The mining operation at the Kyger Pit has continuously <br />dewatered directly back to the Cache la Poudre River since 2000. The estimated dewatering <br />rate at the Kyger Pit site is approximately 1,200 gallons per minute. <br />In addition, it should be noted that the only consumptive use at the Port of Entry Pit and <br />Weizel Pit sites is the evaporation of exposed ground water. Mining is complete at the Weizel <br />Pit site. The Port of Entry Pit site is currently undergoing reclamation. Lafarge West, Inc. filed <br />for a plan for augmentation for the Port of Entry Pit site in case no. 2004CW111 and this case <br />is currently pending. Lafarge West, Inc. also filed for a plan for augmentation for the Weizel Pit <br />site in case no. 2002CW205 and this case is currently pending. <br />The total lagged mining depletions for all the six sites is 433.7 acre-feet. Steady state <br />conditions were used for the Greeley 35th Avenue and Port of Entry Pits. However, real time <br />depletions were used for East Rigden, Three Bells, Kyger and Weitzel Pits because equilibrium <br />has not yet been reached. Since the Kyger Pit has recently experienced a reduction in the rate <br />of mining, the lagged depletions are higher than the current depletions, as the higher production <br />rate is still affecting the current depletions. <br />Replacements <br />Replacement water for this combined plan will come from the following sources: historical <br />consumptive use credits from 475 Boyd and Freeman Ditch shares' will be used to replace the <br />summertime depletions at the Greeley 35th Avenue Pit, accretion credits from recharge of 8.5 <br />shares in the Box Elder Ditch, accretion credits from dewatering at the Three Bells Pit and a lease <br />from the Lake Canal and Reservoir Company ("LCRC") will make additional replacements for the <br />months with insufficient recharge accretion credits.