2009-10-22_REVISION - M1987049 - Laserfiche WebLink

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"Grantee (Ready Mixed Concrete Company) shall be entitled to relocate any portion of the McCann Ditch located on the property of Grantee or its affiliated as necessary to facilitate or assist its mining operations. Grantee shall provide its plans and specifications, which shall be prepared consistent with generally accepted engineering practices, to Grantor (The McCann Ditch and Reservoir Company) not less than 60 days prior to commencement of constructions of the relocated ditch... Grantee expressly covenants that the carriage of water in the McCann Ditch will not be interfered with or impaired by the construction of the relocated ditch, neither during nor upon completion of such construction." However, at this time, the Ditch Company fears that the mining operation will impair the water source of the McCann Ditch. Mr. Spratlen, the president of the McCann Ditch and Reservoir Company infers in the last statement of his objection letter that he objects to the amendment application; unless the applicant can demonstrate that the historic groundwater regime which supplies the McCann ditch will not be impaired by the operator's proposed activities. The Division conducted a review of the mining and reclamation plan and the McCann Ditch Companies objection. The Division sent an adequacy review letter to the operator outlining several possible options to address the McCann Ditch Company's concerns. Ready Mixed Concrete Company has responded to the objectors concerns and the suggestions given by the Division and they have developed a mitigation plan for the possible water loss to the McCann Ditch both during mining and after reclamation. On August 19th, 2009, the Division received a letter from Ready Mixed Concrete Company in response to the Division's adequacy reviews. This letter outlines the mitigation plan for the McCanne Ditch. The Operator claims that they met with the McCanne Ditch Company, their engineers, mining consultants and legal counsel to discuss the potential impacts of the mining operation on the ditch. From their meeting, they identified four principle water sources that supply the McCanne Ditch: 1.) Ground Water 2.) Irrigation return flow from Petrocco Farms 3.) North Tower Lake 4.) Third Creek. It appears that ground water and irrigation return flow are the only sources that may be impacted by the mining operation. Both North Tower Lake and Third Creek are outside of the mining area and are unaffected by the mining operation thus will continue to provide the McCanne Ditch with water. It is the operator's intention to dry mine the property, therefore the act of dewatering the site will draw down the ground water source for the Ditch. To alleviate this, the operator will pump the ground water from the pit area directly into the McCanne Ditch. Water removed from the ground water system that supplies the ditch will be discharged directly into the ditch during the mining process addressing the groundwater supply issue during the pit excavation. After the site has been reclaimed, there will be a slurry wall installed west and down gradient of the ditch adjacent to Cell No. 3. Up-gradient ground water may mound on the east side of the slurry wall increasing the amount of groundwater that will percolate into the ditch. Thus, the post-mine configuration of the site will likely increase the amount of ground water flow into the ditch. Also, it is the operator's intention to backfill the pit excavation on the east side of the ditch with overburden. The Division was concerned the replaced backfill material will be less permeable than the pre-mining strata thus impairing up-gradient groundwater from entering the ditch. In order to address this, the operator has committed to installing a French Drain system along the west side of Brighton Road. The water that is collected in the French Drain will be discharged directly to the McCanne Ditch addressing this issue. 3