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The Purgatoire River valley ranges in width from a few hundred to a few thousand <br /> feet. Use of the river in the area of the mines is limited to stock watering, flood <br /> irrigation on bottomland terraces, water supply for the New Elk Mine, and industrial <br /> supply for mining and coal processing at both mines. Appendix 2 presents water uses for <br /> mine operations which could be as much as 35,000 gallons per day. It is also estimated <br /> that approximately 6000 ac-ft per year are diverted from the river for irrigation above <br /> the Madrid Station. <br /> The Mines are located along the Purgatoire River in an area known as the <br /> Picketwire Valley. The headwaters of the Purgatoire are located on the eastern slope of <br /> the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range a few miles west of the mines. The River consists <br /> of three branches which converge in the mine area. The New Elk Mine is located on the <br /> Middle Fork, about 1.5 miles upstream of the confluence of the North and Middle Forks. <br /> The confluence of the South Fork is at Weston, approximately four miles downstream of <br /> the Golden Eagle Mine (Figure 1). The United State Geological Survey has monitored the <br /> flow of the Purgatoire at Stonewall (approximately four miles upstream from the New Elk <br /> Mine) since May of 1978 and at Madrid (approximately 15 miles downstream of the Golden <br /> Eagle Mine) since 1972. <br /> Annual runoff in the Purgatoire is dominated by snowmelt, with peak flows <br /> occurring in May and June. Summer and fall thunderstorms also produce smaller peaks of <br /> short duration. Analysis of the 550 square mile drainage basin at the Madrid station <br /> indicates a low-yield water shed with the mean annual runoff volume measured at 28,980 <br /> acre-feet. Figure 2 presents an annual hydrograph of flow for the station. <br /> Three stations (PRS-1, PRS-2 and PRS-3, Figure 1) were monitored on the <br /> Purgatoire River during the 1984 water year. Monthly data for the stations is presented <br /> in Tables 2-1, 2-2 and 2-3 in Appendix 1. <br /> Station PRS-1 is located on the Middle Fork above the New Elk Mine and acts as a <br /> control station without influence of mining. Table 1 presents a summary of the data <br /> collected during the 1984 water year. Flow at the station ranged from 5.89 to 52.7 with a <br /> mean of 19.72 cfs. High flow could not be measured during May, however, low flow in <br /> January was not measured, thus giving validity to the calculated mean. Figure 3 and <br /> Table 2 present historic stream data recorded at the Stonewall gaging station as presented <br /> -9- <br />