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NPDES 008 and site 12 are located on Bond Creek. Sites 11 and 13 exist on Fish <br />Creek. Stream site 6 was originally established to determine the premining <br />characteristics of Cow Camp Creek. Monitoring site 6 was discontinued to <br />eliminate redundancy with stream site 10 further downstream at its confluence <br />with Fish Creek. Instantaneous flow measurements are collected at all three <br />creeks. Like the Grassy Creek drainage, streamflows in the Fish Creek basin are <br />seasonally variable with peak flows occurring in the spring in response to <br />snowmelt runoff. Monitoring of the reduced permit area will include NPDES 008 <br />and three stream sites (SW-S2-11 on upper Fish Creek, SW-S2-12 on lower Bond <br />Creek, and SW-S2-13 on lower Fish Creek). <br />F. Probable Hydrologic Consequences <br />A determination of the probable hydrologic consequences of the mining and <br />reclamation activities at the Seneca II Mine site has been made by the applicant <br />and is found in Volume 4, Tab 7, Section VII.B of the permit application. This <br />section includes an evaluation of quantity and quality effects on ground and <br />surface water systems and mitigative measures to be taken both during and after <br />mining. <br />The Probable Hydrologic Consequences section of this document is divided into <br />two main subsections; Surface Water Effects and Ground Water Effects. <br />Surface Water Effects <br />The Seneca II Mine is located in the upper Yampa River basin on the north flank <br />of the Williams Fork Mountains. The mine is located on a watershed divide <br />between the Fish Creek drainage basin to the east and the Grassy Creek drainage <br />basin to the west. Most of the previous mining at the original site occurred in the <br />Little Grassy Creek basin which is tributary to Grassy Creek, a perennial tributary <br />to the Yampa River. Mining in the Fish Creek basin began in 1982, in the Cow <br />Camp Creek tributary basin. As mining in this drainage was completed, an area <br />in another tributary basin of Fish Creek, Bond Creek, was disturbed; the <br />disturbance area in Bond Creek comprises the reduced permit area. All mining <br />activities have ceased and reclamation is nearly complete. The effects of mining <br />on the water quality and quantity in the Fish Creek Basin are discussed below. <br />Fish Creek Drainage Basin <br />Mining in the Bond Creek drainage began in 1988. Flow from the pond peaked <br />from 1995-1999, and has since decreased and is approaching pre-mine rates. <br />Mean annual flow in 1987 was .028 cfs, and in 2009 it was 0.098 cfs. <br />Concentrations of total dissolved solids increased steadily from July values of 530 <br />mg/1 in 1988 to 3,600 mg/1 in 2007, but have showed a decreasing trend since. <br />16