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sampling difficulties. MCC estimates that more than 80% of the South <br />of Divide mining area is in the Dry Fork drainage. MCC also describes <br />the Dry Fork drainage as having minimal yield, but its stream channel <br />annually conveys approximately 720 acre-feet of water imported from <br />Little Gunnison Creek via the Deep Creek Ditch (based on Office of the <br />State Engineer records for 1970 through 2002). The average annual flow <br />of the East Fork of Minnesota Creek is approximately 19,920 acre-feet. <br />Irrigation ditches annually remove about 20,000 acre-feet from <br />Minnesota Creek. <br />Two reservoirs are located in the Minnesota Creek drainage. Minnesota <br />Reservoir is located on the Dry Fork. It has a decreed capacity of 1,285 <br />acre-feet. Beaver Reservoir is located on the East Fork of Minnesota <br />Creek and has an absolute decreed capacity of 1,620 acre-feet and a <br />conditional decree of 522 acre-feet. Both reservoirs store water for <br />irrigation purposes and are filled during spring runoff. They are usually <br />drained by late August or early September. <br />Water quality data have been collected at several sites throughout the <br />Minnesota Creek and Deep Creek drainages . The data indicate that these <br />waters are of a sodium-bicarbonate type with relatively low total <br />dissolved solids concentration. <br />Minnesota Reservoir appears to have an effect on the water quality <br />characteristics of Dry Fork. Detention of Dry Fork flows in the <br />Minnesota Reservoir results in a decrease in total suspended solids (TSS) <br />or turbidity, a slight increase in temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), and <br />total dissolved solids (TDS). The increase in TDS is most likely a result <br />of evaporation losses. There is a slight increase in alkalinity and, as a <br />result, a slight increase in pH. In all likelihood, these changes are also a <br />result of evaporation losses. All of the changes in water quality observed <br />are what would be expected as a result of impounding water in a shallow <br />reservoir in a semi-arid climate. <br />There are three different types of springs within the permit area including <br />alluvial, colluvial, and bedrock springs. Eighty-three springs have been <br />identified within the permit area. Recent data indicate that 65 percent of <br />the discharge originates from alluvium and/or colluvium, and 35 percent <br />have bedrock formation as their source. Only 5 percent of discharge <br />comes from the Upper and Lower Coal Series. The flow rates of these <br />springs are highly seasonal, with peak flows occurring during wet <br />weather conditions. Measurements indicate that spring flows generally <br />decrease from a high in the early summer to a low in the fall. A number <br />of the springs are ephemeral, indicating that their sources are small <br />localized aquifers (i.e. landslide deposits, colluvium, lenticular <br />sandstones, etc.). There are a total of nineteen (19) decreed spring water <br />rights on or near the West Elk permit area. <br />32