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approval by the Water Court and /or the State Engineer's Office. Applicant <br />further reserves the right to use additional or alternative sources of water for <br />replacement under this plan for augmentation pursuant to an interruptible water <br />supply agreement approved pursuant to C.R.S. § 37 -92 -309. <br />(c) Complete Statement of Plan for Augmentation. Applicant proposes to replace <br />evaporative depletions resulting from the post -1980 exposure of ground water at <br />the Freund Pit with augmentation water from its nontributary sources decreed in <br />Case No. 93CWI17, and/or from any other additional or alternative source of <br />replacement water approved for such use by the Water Court and /or the State <br />Engineer's Office. Augmentation water will be delivered directly into Running <br />Creek, tributary to Box Elder Creek, tributary to the South Platte River, at a point <br />at or as near as practicable the point on Running Creek to which the evaporative <br />depletions accrue. <br />(i) Current Project Demands and Depletions. At present, the surface area of <br />the Freund Pit when full is approximately ten acres. Seven acres of <br />ground water was exposed prior to January 1, 1981, and mining operations <br />in the late 1980s to present have exposed an additional three acres of <br />ground water. Pursuant to C.R.S. § 37 -90- 137(11), Applicant is not <br />required to augment the net evaporative depletions from the surface area <br />exposed to the atmosphere prior to January 1, 1981. The average annual <br />gross evaporation rate from a free water surface in the general area of the <br />Freund Pit, based on the NOAA Technical Report NWS 33, is <br />approximately 3.77 feet. Accordingly, the current projected annual <br />evaporative depletion from the three acres of ground water exposed to the <br />atmosphere after 1980, estimated using the guidelines established by the <br />State Engineer's Office, is approximately 11.3 acre - feet/year. <br />(ii) Maximum Projected Demands and Depletions. Applicant also has the <br />right to expand the Freund Pit so that the surface area, when full, will be <br />27 acres. To the extent that the Freund Pit is expanded in the future, <br />Applicant will increase its augmentation releases by the net evaporative <br />depletions for the additionally exposed acreage. For example, if Applicant <br />exposes an additional five acres of ground water by its mining operations, <br />Applicant will replace evaporative depletions from all eight acres of <br />ground water that was exposed to the atmosphere post -1980. In total, <br />Applicant may release up to 75.4 acre - feet /year if the pit is increased to its <br />maximum permitted size of 27 surface acres (20 acres of which would be <br />exposed to the atmosphere after 1980) under this plan for augmentation. <br />Freund Investments, LLC <br />Case No. 11 CW107, Water Division I <br />Page 3 of 8 <br />