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Williams Draw downstream from the Marr permit area. This monitoring station has <br />shown that flows occur primarily in response to snowmelt that begins in April and <br />usually extends through May. During this period, combined flows from snowmelt and <br />thunderstorms have yielded runoff rates of up to 20 cfs. Normally, June runoff decreases <br />rapidly, and by July runoff has usually ceased. Occasional thunderstorms may initiate <br />stream flow temporarily. In November, freezing generally occurs, and no streamflow is <br />noted until spring thaw sometime in April. <br />In the Marr Mine area, baseline water quality analyses indicate calcium and bicarbonate <br />ion concentrations in alkaline water with high suspended loads. Minor amounts of iron <br />and sulfates are found in these waters naturally. Baseline total dissolved solids range <br />from 68 to 1,390 mg/l. The mean value is 505.5 mg/l. <br />In a review of surface water analyses, little if any degradation of surface waters has been <br />noted. Depending on precipitation, few ponds discharge, and flow into the draws is <br />intermittent. The sediment pond at the loadout appears to have never discharged. With <br />no discharges at the loadout, there appear to be no impacts to the surface water around <br />this site. <br />Kerr Coal Company's water rights and water augmentation plan are detailed in Volume <br />10, Exhibit 25. The augmentation plan lists a total water consumption of 69.46 acre-feet <br />per year. The figure includes 66.9 acre-feet for pond dead storage and 2.56 acre-feet <br />consumed for dust suppression, other industrial usage, and sanitary needs. Kerr Coal <br />Company claims the 315.2 acre-feet of water rights for potential mitigation of adverse <br />impacts to surrounding water users. Based upon the data, Kerr Coal Company has <br />adequate water rights to mitigate adverse impacts to neighboring water users. <br />4. The Division finds that the permit area is, subject to valid rights existing as of August 3, <br />1977, not within: <br />a. An area designated unsuitable for surface coal mining operations (2.07.6(2)(d)(i)); <br />b. An area under study for designation as unsuitable for surface coal mining operations <br />(2.07.6(2)( d)(ii)); <br />c. The boundaries of the National Park System; the National Wildlife Refuge System; <br />the National System of Trails; the National Wilderness Preservation System; the Wild <br />and Scenic Rivers System, including rivers under study for designation; or National <br />Recreation Areas (2.07.6(2)(d)(iii)(A)); <br />d. Three-hundred feet of any public building, school, church, community or institutional <br />building, or public park (2.07.6(2)(d)(iii)(B)); <br />e. One-hundred feet of a cemetery (2.07.6(2)(d)(iii)(C); <br />f. The boundaries of any National Forest (2.07.6(2)( d)(iii)(D)); <br />g. One-hundred feet of the outside right-of-way line of any public road except where <br />mine access or haul roads join such line (2.07.6(2)(d)(iv)). The necessary approvals <br />have been received, notices published, and public hearing opportunities provided for <br />the relocation of Jackson County Road 12E. Documentation of BLM and County <br />19