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The Mines are located along the Purgatoire River in an area known <br /> as the Picketwire Valley. The headwaters of the Purgatoire are <br /> located on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range <br /> west of the mine area. The New Elk Mine is located on the Middle <br /> Fork, about 1.5 miles upstream of the confluence of the North and <br /> Middle Forks. The confluence of the South Fork is at Weston, <br /> approximately four miles downstream of the Golden Eagle Mine (Figure <br /> 1) . The United State Geological Survey has monitored the flow of the <br /> Purgatoire at Stonewall (approximately four miles upstream from the <br /> New Elk Mine) from May 1978 to September 1981 and at Madrid (approxi- <br /> mately 15 miles downstream of the Golden Eagle Mine) since 1972 . <br /> Annual runoff in the Purgatoire is dominated by snowmelt, with <br /> peak flows occurring in May and June. Summer and fall thunderstorms <br /> generally produce smaller peaks of short duration. Analysis of the <br /> 550 square mile drainage basin at the Madrid station indicates a <br /> low-yield watershed with the mean annual runoff volume measured at <br /> 28,980 acre-feet. <br /> Three stations (PRS-1, PRS-2 and PRS-3 , Figure 1) were monitored <br /> on the Purgatoire River during the 1989 water year. Monthly data for <br /> the stations is presented in Table 1-1, 1-2 and 1-3 in Appendix 1. <br /> Annual data is summarized in Table 1-14 for 1984, through 1989 . The <br /> water at each of the three stations continues to be a calcium-bicarbo- <br /> nate type water with no significant changes in quality. <br /> Station PRS-1 is located on the Middle Fork above the New Elk <br /> Mine and acts as a control station without influence of mining. <br /> Tables 1-1 and 1-14 presents a summary of the data collected during <br /> the 1989 water year and for the previous five years. <br /> Station PRS-2 is located below the confluence of the North and <br /> Middle Forks while Station PRS-3 is located one mile below PRS-2 and <br /> below all mining activities (Figure 1) . These two stations exhibit <br /> -13- <br />