Laserfiche WebLink
1 ~ <br />r~ <br />Mathews, Dan <br />To: Clark, David, EMNRD <br />ubjec#: ~E: Irrigation for establishment <br />Thanks slot Dave. 1EVhat is tl~e annual prcip at San Juan? <br />M~r~r Christmas and Happy New Yearl <br />----Original Message----- <br />~ra~n; Clark, David, ~MNRD Emailto,david,clark~7a state.nm.us] <br />dent: wedr~esday, December 14, 25 PI~f <br />To ~ Mathews, Dan subject: R~: Irrigation for establishment <br />Hi Dan <br />fur unirrigated sites with that prep. regime also have some failed establishment once in a while. <br />fan Juan mine i the only operation we nave that irrigates, and they i't do it during the first year <br />and second year, if necssaryF Even on irrigated sites, the hest revegetaticn establishment and <br />persistence occurs when we get a couple of shove-avg prep years in a row ~abaut once a decade <br />for the fan Juan Basin}, <br />Our program has historically argued with fan Juan #o not irrigate, or just barely irrigate, vVe have small mines nearby that did just fine without any irrigation, and met all their approved standards. <br />But with t#~e spotty nature of our moisture, its hard to generalize. !n sorrre areas of general failure at <br />San Juan Mine, we oan see decent perennial establishment ~i'ght around the sprink#er head <br />locations, with voids in between from a high place you can see the pattern of the irrigation layout 1 D years after irrigation was conducted}. a that makes rye think that too kittle irrigation may be part of <br />the problem. <br />Below is the permit comrr~itiment we have approved at fan Juan Mine. 1 won`t say we have it all <br />figured out, but this i the latest version that we ire trying. Tirn Rernsey at fan Juan Mine <br />Timothy.~.Rarnse~(d~BHPBiCiiton,~Qm is the best industry contact person in NM for this topic. food luck and happy l-loiidaysl <br />Irrigation <br />Based on research conducted in 1974 and 1975 at ~111~., irrigation was shown to be ~ condition required to <br />achieve rapid and successful vegetation stand establisl~rnent. Further research has been conducted at both JM <br />and Navajo ll~ine to evaluate the effects afirr~igation water on vegetal performance, In a study coordinated by <br />the Plant Materials Center ~PMC} at ~]1Vt from 1991 through 1994, several irrigation treatments were <br />compared in an effort to improve water use efficiency. This study compared a reduced and standard rate of <br />irrigation utilized at ~3M and concluded that a reduction in irrigation will not significantly affect perennial <br />roundcover in reclaimed areas ~PMC, 1994}. In another study recently concluded at Navajo Mine,tl3ree <br />irrigation rates ~~ow, medium, and liigh~ were compared xo determine vegetal performance over a 4-year <br />period following initial seeding ~Buci~anan Consultants, Ltd., 199}. This study revealed that vegetal cover <br />was not statistically different among the three irrigation treatments. The results of the two studies suggest that <br />12I~41~0~5 <br />