2008-04-15_REVISION - M1980244 (309)

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• then flows into Fourmile Creek. On the west side, surface water would flow into Poverty Gulch, Squaw Gulch, and Arequa Gulch, all tributaries to Cripple Creek, which also flows into Fourmile Creek. On the north side, surface water would flow into Grassy Creek, a tributary to Beaver Creek. Drawing G-1 shows the surface water system including a two-mile radius around the Cresson Project MLE affected areas. Each of the drainages is discussed separately below. Locally, active surface water channels essentially do not exist throughout most of the diatreme-based District. Due to the presence of below grade surface mine areas, the high permeability of the diatreme and the lowering of the ground water table by the underground drainage tunnels, precipitation rapidly infiltrates and surface water flows are only rarely observed. Those flows are not continuous in the downstream direction, but may become more continuous after the granodiorite is encountered. Only during significant snowmelt or after heavy rainstorms is flow observed in the otherwise dry washes. The stream flow that does occur is seldom continuous along the channel. The flow usually infiltrates into the upper, and shallow, ground water system within the stream colluvial and alluvial sediments. Surface flow may appear again some distance downstream. Sections of . the stream channel remain dry even during these precipitation events. Wilson Creek and Tributaries Surface water drains south of the Cresson Mine into Theresa Creek (aka North Fork of Wilson Creek) and Bateman Creek, which are tributaries to Wilson Creek, which flows into Fourmile Creek. The Vindicator Valley drains to what is known locally as Theresa Gulch, which is in the upper reaches of the Wilson Creek watershed. Wilson Creek is ephemeral to intermittent in the upper reaches (i.e., the upper Theresa Gulch area), but becomes. perennial in the vicinity of its juncture with Bateman Creek due to discharges into Wilson Creek from the City of Victor's waste water treatment plant. Theresa Gulch is ephemeral to intermittent. Flows in Bateman Creek are ephemeral in the upper reaches and intermittent in the lower reaches with freezing occurring during the winter months. CC&V monitors three stations on Theresa Gulch, one station on Wilson Creek above the confluence with Bateman Creek, and one station on Bateman Creek. The oldest station was installed in 1992 and the most recent station was installed in 1997. The data show limited flows, in response to precipitation, in upper Theresa Gulch. In lower Theresa Gulch, the data show low, but continual, • flows. Flows in Bateman Creek vary on a seasonal basis. Wilson Creek at the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company Cresson Project Mine Life Extension 4-8