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sediments . Alluvial deposits in the area of the mines range from their <br /> current location to older terraces of forty to fifty feet above the <br /> Purgatoire. Buried channels filled with alluvium incised into the <br /> underlying Raton Formation have also been found . These alluvial <br /> deposits support typical hydrophytic vegetation characteristic of <br /> floodplains and contain ground water hydrologically connected to the <br /> Purgatoire River. <br /> 3. 1 Surface Water <br /> Surface water availability is directly related to <br /> precipitation received in the drainage. The climate summary, as <br /> described in the mine permit application, indicates total calculated <br /> precipitation for the mines should be 16. 92 inches. Although <br /> precipitation measurements were not available at the mine, estimates of <br /> the 1986-1987 snow pack was above normal . <br /> The Purgatoire River valley ranges in width from a few <br /> hundred to a few thousand feet. Use of the river in the area of the <br /> mines is limited to stock watering, flood irrigation on bottomland <br /> terraces, water supply for the New Elk Mine and preparation plant, and <br /> industrial supply for mining at both mines . Appendix 2 presents _water <br /> uses for mine operations during 1987 which were calculated at 6 . 1 <br /> ac-ft. It is also estimated that approximately 6000 ac-ft per year are <br /> diverted from the upper Purgatoire River Valley for irrigation use. <br /> The Mines are located along the Purgatoire River in an area <br /> known 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 Fork, <br /> about 1 . 5 miles upstream of the confluence of the North and Middle <br /> Forks . The confluence of the South Fork is at Weston, approximately <br /> four miles downstream of the Golden Eagle Mine (Figure 1) . The United <br /> State Geological Survey has monitored the flow of the Purgatoire at <br /> Stonewall (approximately four miles upstream from the New Elk Mine) <br /> since May of 1978 and at Madrid (approximately 15 miles downstream of <br /> 11 <br />