1993-11-15_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 (2)

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Mid-Continent Report; Nov. 15, 1993 Steve Renner/Harry Posey Page 7 Conductivity on the Crystal River ranges from 120 to 1200; on Coal Creek at station #20, conductivity ranges from 168 to 1900. The average on Coal Creek is 579; on the Crystal River it is 403. A single measurement below Carbondale is 220; the average of two samples on the Crystal above Coal Creek is 232. Although Coal Creek has a higher conductivity than the Crystal River, the Crystal River receives dissolved solids from sources other than Coal Creek. Flow in the Crystal above Avalanche Creek is about 15 times greater than Coal Creek; however, the conductivity of Coal Creek is only 1.4 times greater than the Crystal at that point. In order for the Crystal to have such high conductivity after a 15x dilution below Coal Creek, there must be a significant contribution of dissolved solids from other sources. COMMENTS: 1. It is not clear to me how the parameters that have been ordinarily measured were chosen. For instance, I would anticipate that water quality parameters would be chosen based on a priori knowledge about the composition of potentially deliterious components of the coal and waste that might contribute to a waste stream. For coal and the associated waste rocks, I would anticipate seeing analyses of certain metals associated with the coal and the associated sediment. Most of these analyses are not generally available. In addition, in order to monitor the general water quality over time one would need analyses of major cations and anions. In most natural waters, the major cations are Cat+, Mg2+, Na2+, and K+ and the major anions are CO32-, HCO3, SO42-, and CY. Data for Cl- and K+ are not generally available. These parameters should be analyzed, given the probability that Cr is likely to be present in and settings and that K+ is likely to be derived from clays. The parameters monitored for the NPDES discharge point fall short of the type of analysis that would allow one to conduct a proper evaluation of anything other than the specific suite of species dictated by the NPDES permit requirements. 2. Although the Crystal River has been classified as a Class 1 Cold Water Fishery by the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Health, the "Crystal River Drainage Study, August 1978 - May 1979" (author unknown) located no trout between the area above Coal Creek and below North Thompson Creek, and the area around the Carbondale Fish Hatchery. Even though fish occur only in certain segments of the Crystal River, the entire river is classified as a cold water fishery.