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B. Fish and wildlife habitat is a planned post-mining land use. The applicant has <br />selected appropriate plant species and distributions to benefit fish and wildlife <br />(4.18(5)(i)). <br />X. <br />SUBSIDENCE CONTROL <br />Subsidence information is included in Section 2.1.9 of the application. Information <br />provided demonstrates the absence of renewable resource lands or structures in the permit <br />and adjacent areas which would potentially be affected by subsidence. As a result, no <br />subsidence monitoring is necessary, and a subsidence control plan is not required. <br />There is a small area of privately owned surface within the permit area that is scheduled to <br />be undermined in the future. The operator has committed within the application (p. 2-24) <br />to provide written notification to surface owners at least six months prior to initiation of <br />mining beneath their properties, as required by Rule 4.20.2. A sample notification letter is <br />provided on page 2-25 of the application. <br />XI. OPERATIONS ON ALLUVIAL VALLEY FLOORS <br />Sufficient information was provided by the applicant to determine that the East Salt Creek <br />Valley within and adjacent to the permit area is an alluvial valley floor (AVF), based on <br />the extent of alluvial deposits, and potential for irrigation as demonstrated by the existence <br />of irrigated hayland in the mine vicinity. <br />The alluvial valley floor assessment is presented on pages 4-4 through 4-9 of the <br />application, and the extent of the AVF, and nature of the agricultural practices on the AVF <br />is depicted on Figure 4.1-2. Approximately I acre of undeveloped rangeland AFV was <br />disturbed by mine road and office facilities construction. Less than 1% of the total area of <br />alluvial valley floor within a one-half mile radius of the confluence of McClane Canyon <br />and East Salt Creek would be disturbed by the operation, and there will be no disturbance <br />to irrigated cropland. <br />The following specific findings are required. <br />A. The Division finds that activities proposed by the applicant will not interrupt, <br />discontinue, or preclude farming on the alluvial valley floors that are irrigated or <br />naturally subirrigated (4.24.3(1)). The proposed activities will directly affect only <br />undeveloped rangelands which are not significant to farming. <br />B. The proposed activities will not materially damage the quantity or quality of water in <br />the surface or ground water system described above (4.24.3(3)) and 2.06.8(5)(a)(ii)). <br />No adverse effects to water quantity or quality were projected when the initial <br />permanent program permit was issued, and monitoring to date has supported this <br />projection. In association with RN-06 and TR-15, the operator prepared a mass <br />balance evaluation to assess the effects of irrigation season mine water discharge on <br />the salinity (conductivity) of East Salt Creek water downstream from the point where <br />discharge water enters the stream. The evaluation confirms that mine discharge is <br />not causing a deleterious increase in stream salinity levels. The reader is referred to <br />28