2010-04-30_HYDROLOGY - M1977062

• Permit No: M1977062
• IBM Index Class Name: HYDROLOGY
• Doc Date: 4/30/2010
• Doc Name: Mining Operations with Exposed Ground Water
• From: DRMS
• To: Benson Brothers
• Permit Index Doc Type: Hydrology Report
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman St., Room 215
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
April 30, 2010
Benson Brothers
21240 Austin Rd
Austin, CO 81410
RE: Mining Operations with Exposed Ground water
To Whom It May Concern:
COLORADO
D [VISION OF
RECLAMATION
MINING
SAFETY
Bill Ritter, Jr.
Governor
James B. Martin
Executive Director
Loretta E-Pineda
Director
The Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety is responsible for ensuring that Sand and Gravel mining
operators comply with the requirements of the Colorado Land Reclamation Act for the Extraction of
Construction Materials (Act) and the Mineral Rules and Regulations of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation
Board for the Extraction of Construction Materials (Rules). Among these requirements are provisions for the
protection of water resources. The Act requires that reclamation plans must ensure minimization of
disturbances to the prevailing hydrologic balance, including disturbances to the quantity of water in the area
affected by mining and in the surrounding areas. § 34-32.5-116(4)(h). Rule 3.1.6(1)(a) requires compliance
with Colorado water laws and regulations governing injury to existing water rights both during and after
mining. Permits must specify how the permittee will comply with applicable Colorado water laws and
regulations governing injury to existing water right rights. Rule 6.3.3(j); Rule 6.4.5(2)(c). After an extensive
review, the Division determined that several operators may not have appropriate permit conditions to
address certain reclamation liabilities arising from impacts to water resources.
In September 2009 the Division of Water Resources (DWR) updated its Guidelines for Sand and Gravel Pits.
These guidelines provide guidance on achieving compliance with state law regarding replacement of
depletions from sand and gravel mining, thus the guidelines provide a benchmark for the protection of
hydrologic balance required under the Act and Rules. As noted in the Guidelines, sand and gravel
operations which expose groundwater without complying with state law create a reclamation liability by
impacting available groundwater.
State law requires that any person exposing ground water must obtain a well permit from the SEO pursuant
to § 37-90-137(11). Because exposed groundwater results in out-of-priority water depletions, operations
which expose ground water must also eventually obtain a water-court approved augmentation plan.
Currently, several operators do not have either an augmentation plan or bonding to provide an alternative
method to mitigate injurious stream depletions that result from mining-related exposure of ground
water. The Division has a statutory duty to ensure that lands affected by mining are reclaimed in a manner
that complies with state law and to ensure that operators have sufficient bonding to achieve reclamation. In
order to assist operators in achieving compliance with these requirements, the Division proposes that, by
April 30, 2011, operators should contact the Division and agree upon a plan for achieving compliance.
M-/q 7 7- 04 Z,
Office of Office of
Mined Land Reclamation Denver • Grand )unction • Durango Active and Inactive Mines