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. 2.04.5 General Description of Hydrology and Geology <br />(1) The area of interest is located near the western margin of the Colorado <br />portion of the central Rocky Mountain system. The permit and adjacent <br />areas are situated on the southern flank of the Piceance Creek basin. This <br />portion of the basin is bounded by the West Elk and Elk Mountains to the <br />east, the Gunnison Uplift to the south, Uncompahgre Uplift to the west, <br />and the Grand Mesa to the north. The coal in the area is located within the <br />Mesaverde formation which contains interbeded sandstone, mudstone, <br />shale, siltstone, and coal beds. The Mesaverde Formation lies upon the <br />Rollins Sandstone member of the Iles formation and below the Wasatch <br />formation. <br />The geology description is presented in section 2.04.6. Geology maps <br />include Map 5, Surficial Geology, Map 6, Geologic Hazards, Map 7 <br />Geology and Map 8 Geologic Cross Section. <br />Hydrologically the permit and adjacent area is bounded by two perennial <br />• streams, Stevens Gulch and Hubbard Creek, and bisected by perennial <br />stream Terror Creek which are all tributary to the North Fork of the <br />Gunnison River, on the west, central, east and south respectfully. West <br />Terror Creek is located north of the western permit area. The important <br />groundwater in the area would be associated with the alluvial deposits <br />along the perennial North Fork River. Tributary to the perennial streams <br />are the ephemeral drainages. In the western portion of the permit area <br />ephemeral drainages flow to the west into Terror Creek and to the east <br />into Stevens Gulch. In the eastern permit area Dove Gulch, Sheep Coral <br />Gulch and Freeman Gulch flow into Hubbbard Creek. Stephens Draw, <br />A— Gulch, B— Gulch, C--Gulch and D--gulch all flow into the North Forth <br />of the Gunnison River. (ref. Map 9, Hydrology Monitoring Location). <br />Groundwater found within some of these drainages consist of steep <br />sloped colluvial material being recharged by snowmelt and drained by <br />intermittent seeps or springs. A review of documents recording the <br />extensive exploration drilling in the area indicate perch water zones, which <br />generally occur within lenticular sandstones sandwiched between low <br />permeable clays, and are of low quality. <br />• PR -12 2.04-12- =10 <br />