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The Menefee Formation is a fine- grained interbedded sequence of sandstone, siltstone, <br />mudstone, and coal that was deposited on an alluvial plain. Environments ranged from fluvial <br />channel deposits to coal swamps. The Menefee is more than 200 feet thick. NKC mines coal <br />from the top of the Menefee. The Grush well is a water supply well located within one mile of <br />the permit area, in the SE corner of Section 7, and is probably completed in the Menefee <br />Formation. <br />The Point Lookout Sandstone is approximately 400 feet in total thickness. The upper unit of the <br />Point Lookout is a massive, medium - grained sandstone approximately 100 feet thick, while the <br />lower member is made up of thin sandstone beds with interbedded shale. Stratigraphically, the <br />Point Lookout lies more than 200 feet below the King Coal Mine workings. Water supply wells <br />that are located within one mile of the permit area and are likely completed in the Point Lookout <br />Sandstone include the Haugen, Funk, Beyer, and Etheridge wells, and those of the Vista de Oro <br />subdivision, located more than ' /z mile west of the King II permit boundary. <br />The only natural springs located within one mile of the King I and 11 Mines are the Huntington <br />Springs, located on the north side of Hay Gulch, west of the abandoned La Plata No. 1 Mine area <br />(File No. C -87 -072). This spring may flow from either the lower Menefee Formation or the Hay <br />Gulch alluvium. A water right to the Huntington Springs was adjudicated and subsequently <br />abandoned, as documented during permitting of the now terminated La Plata No. 1 Mine. The <br />Huntington Springs are beyond the area of influence of the King I and 11 Mines. <br />Surface Water Hydrology (4.05 and 4.07) <br />The surface facilities of the King I and II Mines are located in ephemeral drainages that are <br />tributary to Hay Gulch. The southern portion of the permit area (King I workings) extends <br />beneath the Pine Gulch ephemeral drainage. Pine Gulch flows into Hay Gulch approximately <br />two miles downstream from the permit area. Hay Gulch is a tributary of the La Plata River, and <br />their confluence is located about six miles downstream (south) from the permit area. <br />Northwest of the King II Mine lies East Alkali Gulch, an ephemeral stream. East Alkali flows to <br />the southwest and south, ultimately joining Hay Gulch approximately seven miles downstream <br />of the permit area. <br />There are no perennial streams within the permit area. Surface water in the ephemeral drainage <br />basins, where mine surface facilities are located, is limited to runoff from rainfall and snowmelt <br />events. Runoff from the undisturbed upper parts of drainages is routed around the disturbed <br />areas through ditches and culverts. With the exception of runoff from main /haul access roads, <br />runoff from disturbed areas is passed through sediment control ponds which discharge into Hay <br />Gulch. <br />Hay Gulch does not have a stream channel in the vicinity of the permit area. Historically, <br />surface flow in Hay Gulch has been diverted into an irrigation ditch on the north side of the <br />Gulch. This ditch carries water for irrigation that has been diverted from the La Plata River. At <br />times the ditch water has been reported to be high in salinity, rendering it unsuitable for <br />7 <br />