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West Elk Mine 2008 Annual Hydrology Report I <br />9 1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />This Mountain Coal Company, LLC (MCC) West Elk Mine 2008 Annual Hydrology Report <br />(AHR) describes details of the hydrologic monitoring activities and summarizes pertinent data with <br />respect to mining operations as required by MCC's Permit C-1980-007 with the Colorado Division <br />of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (CDRMS) for the Water Year 2008 (WY 2008), October 1, <br />2007 through September 30, 2008. <br />1.1 Overview of Mining Operations <br />During WY 2008, mining was completed in the B-seam in longwall panel 21, as well as <br />development mining of the headgate, tailgate and start-line for longwall panel 18. Longwall <br />mining of panel 18 was then completed and longwall mining commenced in longwall panel 25, as <br />well (Map 1 A). In the E-seam, development mining was completed in the E South Mains (ESM), <br />the ESM rock rooms, and longwall panel E1 tailgate, headgate, start-line and recovery rooms. <br />Development mining was also completed in the longwall panel E2 recovery rooms and headgate <br />(Map 1 B). <br />0 2.0 HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY OF WATER YEAR 2008 <br />During WY 2008, October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008, the total annual precipitation in <br />the vicinity of the West Elk Mine was slightly above normal at the McClure Pass <br />(59743/0007K09S) and Overland Reservoir (59853/0007K14S) meteorological and Snotel <br />stations compared to historical (30 year) total annual precipitation data (CCC, 2009; NRCS, 2009a; <br />NRCS 2009b). The total annual precipitation at the Paonia 1 SW (56306) meteorological station <br />was slightly below normal in WY 2008 compared to the 30-year historical data (CCC, 2009). <br />During WY 2008, the snow water equivalent (SWE) data were above the historical annual averages <br />at Overland Reservoir and McClure Pass stations (NRCS SNOTEL, 2009c), resulting in slightly <br />above average to near average stream flows in the permit and surrounding areas (Figures 1-5). <br />2.1 Climatological Data <br />Precipitation and snow water equivalent (SWE) data for the permit and surrounding area for WY <br />2008 were derived from the Paonia I SW (56306), Overland Reservoir (59853/0007K14S), and <br />McClure Pass (59743/0007K09S) meteorological and Snotel stations (National Climatic Data <br />Center, 2009; Colorado Climate Center (CCC), 2009; NRCS 2009c). Figures 1, 2, and 3 depict the <br />WY 2008 total monthly precipitation data compared to the 30-year historical average (1971-2000). <br />June 2009 HydroGeo, Inc.