2013-01-08_HYDROLOGY - M1999069 - Laserfiche WebLink

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DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES Mr. Todd Williams, P.E. Williams and Weiss Consulting, LLC 5255 Ronald Reagan Boulevard, Ste 220 Johnstown, CO 80534 January 7, 2013 eC John W. Hickenlooper Governor Mike King Executive Director Dick Wolfe, P.E. Director /State Engineer RE: Wagner- Kauffman No. 3 Substitute Water Supply Plan (WDID 0402529) Wagner- Kauffman No. 3 Pit, DRMS No. M- 1999 -069 (WDID 0403008) Section 17, 20 and 21, T5N, R68W, 6th P.M. Water Division 1, Water District 4, Larimer County Approval Period: January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013 JAN 0 8 ?r 1 Contact Phone Number for Mr. Todd Williams: 303 - 653 -3940 Dear Mr. Williams: DIVISION OF RECl ' JN MINING AND t We have reviewed your letter of November 14, 2012 requesting an amendment to the above referenced substitute water supply plan for a sand and gravel pit. The required fee of $257.00 for the amendment of this substitute supply plan has been submitted (receipt no. 3657785). The original supply plan was approved on December 16, 1999, was most recently approved on April 4, 2012. SWSP Operations This plan seeks to replace depletions resulting from mining operations at the Wagner /Kauffman No. 3 Pit ( "W -K #3 "). The mine is located in Larimer County in Sections 17, 20 and 21, Township 5 North, Range 68 West of the 6 P.M. Mining activities at the Pit are complete and reclamation activities, including the completion of liners will continue into 2013. It is anticipated that liner construction will be complete in 2013. For the purpose of projecting depletions it has been conservatively assumed that evaporation will continue throughout all of 2013. During this SWSP approval period the only depletions that will occur, and will be covered under this SWSP are the evaporative losses from exposed ground water. The replacement will be made using a lease from the City of Loveland. Lined storage is planned after reclamation for a portion of the site. The remaining mining area will be backfilled above the ground water table as required in the reclamation plan. Dewatering All dewatering flows since 2000 have been discharged into the adjacent unlined Kauffman #1 Pit (DRMS M- 1978 -327, WDID 0403009). The Kauffman #1 Pit is covered under a separate SWSP (WDID 0402530) and is owned and operated by the Applicant. The exposed ground water in Kauffman # 1 Pit was exposed prior to 1981 in connection with sand and gravel mining and as such evaporation from this pit is not required to be augmented (see § 37- 90- 137(11)(b), C.R.S. & 09CW49). The dewatering pump discharges into the Kauffman #1 Pit at a location approximately 100 feet from the intake of W -K #3. Water discharged into the Kauffman # 1 Pit will recharge ground water because the pit is unlined and, given the large size of the pit, the additional volume attributable to the dewatering flows does not create a measureable increase in evaporation. Both pits are immediately adjacent to each other and similarly situated along the Big Thompson River. Thus the parameters used to model the lagged depletions are the same parameters used to model the lagged accretions. Additionally all of the dewatering flows have been discharged into the Kauffman #1 Pit. With this understanding, it can be assumed that the dewatering operation, as it has existed since 2000, has created lagged accretions that mimic the lagged depletions. Therefore, the SWSP is approved on the basis that there will be no net depletions as a result of dewatering flow reduction or complete cessation of dewatering as will occur with the liner is finished. Office of the State Engineer 1313 Sherman Street, Suite 818 • Denver, CO 80203 • Phone: 303 - 866 -3581 • Fax: 303 - 866 -3589 www.water.state.co.us