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SYSTEM DESCRIPTION <br />As shown on Figure 1, the water handling facilities at the mill consist of two water <br />storage reservoirs, interceptor canals and pipelines, and a large tailings impoundment. The <br />primary purposes of these facilities are: <br />1. Tailing Deposition and Storage <br />2. Process Water Circulation and Storage <br />3. Fresh Water Bypass <br />4. Fbod Control <br />Ute Creek Reservoir, with a storage capacity of about 130 acre -feet, is located on the <br />main stem of Ute Creek, upstream of the mill facilities. This reservoir impounds fresh water <br />that is then delivered to the Williams Fork River through a series of culverts and pipelines. <br />Flood flows in excess of the 200 -year snowmelt flood will be discharged through the <br />emergency spillway into Ute Creek, which flows into the tailing pond bypass canal. <br />Significant discharges into Ute Creek, such as that which would occur during a PMP event, <br />would exceed the canal capacity and flow into the tailing pond. <br />East Branch Reservoir, with a storage capacity of about 2,000 acre -feet, is located on <br />the East Branch of Ute Creek. The elevation- capacity curve for East Branch Reservoir is <br />shown on Figure 2. This reservoir is used for process water storage and flood control. The <br />flow of the East Branch of Ute Creek and other fresh water tributaries to the reservoir are <br />intercepted above the reservoir and bypassed to the Williams Fork River. Flood flows in <br />excess of the 200 -year snowmelt flood will spill from the interceptor into the reservoir. If the <br />reservoir spills through the emergency spillway, as would occur during a PMP event, the <br />spillway discharge will flow into the tailing pond. The low -level outlet of the reservoir normally <br />serves as the intake header to the process water pumps located in the East Branch Pump <br />Station. <br />The fresh water bypass system also includes the interception and bypass of the flow <br />of an unnamed tributary to Ute Creek that is referred to as the Horseshoe Intake. This flow is <br />also diverted to the Williams Fork River. Flows in excess of the 200 -year snowmelt flood spill <br />into the East Branch of Ute Creek and eventually into the tailing pond. <br />3 <br />