Laserfiche WebLink
potential Prime Farmland is the 107.96 acres of Morgan property within the permit area, <br />southwest of the corner of 2700 Road and BB Road, which is dominated by Darvey-Barx <br />complex soils. Pending further documentation regarding historic management and availability of <br />dependable irrigation water supplies, the acreage is presumed to be Prime Farmland and will be <br />managed and reclaimed in accordance with Prime Farmland requirements. <br />Water Rights and Usage <br />The water rights, usage and augmentation plan is presented in Section 2.05.6(3) of the permit <br />application. There are 11 surface water rights that have the potential of being impacted by <br />Western Fuels operations at New Horizon Mine 2. These are upgradient of Sediment Pond 007 <br />at the site. There are 29 water wells adjacent to the mine sites. Of these, just two, W-009 and <br />D-041 on Figure 2 of Tab 16, could be impacted by future mining activities at the New Horizon <br />Mine 2 site. These two wells are 150 feet or less deep and derive their water from near surface <br />aquifers. At the end of five years of operation, Western Fuels estimated that drawdown might be <br />one foot within a 0.7 mile radius of the center of the New Horizon Mine 2 pit. Western Fuels <br />proposes, with owner consent, to monitor these wells to detect any changes in their hydrologic <br />conditions. <br />Western Fuels-Colorado will use the following alternative water sources to mitigate any ground <br />or surface water right impacts. Western Fuels has available 114.5 acre-feet of surface water, <br />which is a consumptive use credit associated with Western Fuels' ownership of 27 shares of the <br />Colorado Cooperative Company (CCC). Western Fuels has an absolute 4 acre-foot storage right <br />for the 001 reservoir at the New Horizon Mine 1 area and is projected to have 18 acre-feet of pit <br />pumpage during the non-irrigation season available to them for use. Western Fuels also has a 1.5 <br />acre-foot ground water right associated with the mined-out shop well. <br />It is from these alternative sources of water that the surface water augmentation plan has been <br />developed. No ground water impacts requiring mitigation are forecast. However, should a <br />ground water supply be diminished to such an extent that it precludes its use, Western Fuels will <br />replace this supply with surface water available to them (only 62.1 of the 114.5 acre-feet of CCC <br />water is required for the surface water augmentation plan) or WFC will re-drill a new well. <br />The monitoring plan is described in Section B, Item II E, of this Findings Document. The plan is <br />detailed enough to show any impacts on adjacent water rights to the New Horizon Mine sites. <br />Western Fuels-Colorado has shown that it has adequate water rights to mitigate any discovered <br />impacts and this complies with the requirements of 4.05.15. <br />18