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• <br />Gunnison River Gravel Pits No. 1 & No. 5 <br />A 3.6 -acre lake will remain at Pit No. 1, and a 6.8 -acre lake will remain at Pit No. 5 upon <br />completion of mining. A water balance showing the timing of depletions to the river as result of <br />evaporation from Pit No. 1 and Pit No. 5 after mining operations have been completed is shown <br />in Tables 9 and 10, respectively. After all out -of -priority depletions to the river attributed to <br />mining operations have been replaced, a total of 54.84 acre feet of water (18.96 acre feet for Pit <br />No. 1 and 35.88 acre feet for Pit No. 5) will annually be purchased from Blue Mesa Reservoir as <br />a permanent replacement source to offset potential out -of -priority depletions due to evaporation at <br />Pit No. 1 and Pit No. 5. <br />Upon completion mining, both pits will be reclaimed in accordance with the requirements <br />specified in the reclamation permit. Water required to support reclamation at each pit will be <br />pumped directly from the Gunnison River under free river conditions or when sufficient excess <br />replacement water, purchased as proposed in this Plan, is available to cover potential out -of- <br />priority depletions, or water will be purchased from an off -site source and transported onsite. No <br />out -of -priority depletions to the river will occur to support the reclamation effort. <br />In accordance with Item 16 of DWR's General Guidelines for Substitute Water Supply Plans for <br />Sand and Gravel Pits (updated September 30, 2009), the plan includes financial assurance that <br />would allow purchase of replacement water to cover the expected depletions that would occur in <br />the unlikely event that the Applicant ceases operations in a manner that is not consistent with the <br />plan as outlined above. This "walk- away" fill provision addresses the worst case scenario in <br />which the Applicant curtails dewatering after the pit reaches its maximum size and at a time when <br />sufficient excess replacement water is not available to offset out -of -priority depletions and the <br />excavation refills with groundwater inflow rather than by pumping water from the Gunnison <br />River during "free river" conditions. At its maximum size, the capacity of Pit No. 1 is 52 acre -feet <br />and the capacity of Pit No. 5 is 107 acre -feet. The Applicant will provide a corporate surety bond <br />to the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety to ensure the financial resources are <br />available for the purchase of the additional replacement water required to offset out -of- priority <br />depletions caused by the excavation filling under the "walk- away" scenario. Therefore, the bond <br />will be established to provide for the purchase of 218 acre feet of replacement water in Blue Mesa <br />Reservoir, 159 acre -feet depletion for both pits with 27 percent conveyance loss. <br />GJPS will install measuring devices, provide accounting, and supply calculations regarding the <br />timing of depletions as required by the Division Engineer for the operation of this Plan. All <br />Western Water & Land, Inc. 11 <br />