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consistently predicted higher discharges for each aquifer with the <br />exception of the Wolf Creek Coal than did the McWhorter method. <br />The more conservative estimates of pit inflows from each aquifer in cubic <br />feet per day were 365 for the Wadge Overburden, 160 for the Wadge Coal, <br />and 745 for the Wolf Creek Overburden, and 499 for the Wolf Creek Coal. <br />Variability in aquifer characteristics in the Grassy Creek and Sage Creek <br />drainages cause variation in the predicted drawdowns. The radial distance <br />to a one-foot drawdown in the Wadge Overburden was predicted to be 401 <br />feet in the Grassy Creek drainage and 564 feet in the Sage Creek drainage. <br />The one-foot drawdown radius in the Wadge Coal was predicted to be 369 <br />feet in the Grassy Creek drainage and 468 feet in the Sage Creek drainage. <br />Radial distances to the one-foot drawdowns in the Wolf Creek Overburden <br />and Wolf Creek Coal in the Sage Creek drainage were predicted to be 452 <br />and 491 feet, respectively. Because the drawdowns due to pit inflows <br />were to be mostly contained within the leasehold area, and adjacent water <br />users are located beyond the one-foot drawdown contours, no significant <br />impact on groundwater use due to pit inflows was predicted. <br />Impacts of Production Well <br />Seneca Coal Company predicted that maximum drawdowns in the Trout <br />Creek aquifer resulting from nine years of pumping in the Yoast <br />Production Well would be 186 feet. After 20 years of recovery, the <br />residual drawdown within one mile of the well is predicted to be less than <br />two feet. The radial distance to the one-foot drawdown contour after 20 <br />years of pumping was predicted to be 10 miles. The only known Trout <br />Creek wells within this radius are associated with the Twentymile Coal <br />Mine and are between seven and ten miles from the Yoast Mine well. The <br />drawdown at this distance from the Yoast Mine well should not <br />significantly impact these wells. <br />Streamflow depletions in the Yampa River, Fish Creek, Middle Creek, and <br />Trout Creek channels due to changes in the groundwater regime were all <br />predicted to be less than 0.55 acre-feet per year. However, streamflow <br />depletions in Sage Creek and Grassy Creek were predicted to be higher: <br />4.9 acre-feet per year in Sage Creek and 5.8 acre-feet per year in Grassy <br />Creek. <br />Impact of Replaced Spoil on Groundwater <br />Seneca Coal Company predicted that the replaced spoil would have a 25% <br />higher hydraulic conductivity than the undisturbed material. Other than <br />that, the primary erect on groundwater would be degradation of quality <br />with respect to total dissolved solids (TDS). <br />Yoast Mine 25 December 15, 2010