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S heryl Signs, P.E. <br />/Cheryl Signs Engineering <br />109 East Fourth Avenue <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES <br />DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES <br />April 15, 2013 <br />Re: Durham Combined Su • ater • • • - . (WDID 0302535) <br />Durham Pit, DRMS File No. - 1978 -056 (WDID 0303029) <br />Sections 3, 9, and 10, T5N, R65W, 6 P.M. <br />Dakolios Pit DRMS File No. M- 1984 -036 (WDID 0503008) <br />Section 31, T3N, R67W, 6 P.M. <br />Western Sugar Pit, DRMS File No. M- 2010 -049 (WDID 0303038) <br />Water Division 1, Water Districts 3 and 5, Weld County, Colorado <br />Approval Period: January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2014 <br />Contact Phone Number for Ms. Cheryl Signs: 303 - 778 -7653 <br />Dear Ms. Signs: <br />John W. Hickenlooper <br />Governor <br />• Mike King <br />Executive Director <br />Dick Wolfe, P.E. <br />Director /State Engineer <br />1 6 i s 2013 <br />Division of Reclamation, <br />Miniri 6. Safety <br />This letter is in response to your letter dated November 21, 2012 and March 1, 2013, requesting <br />renewal to the approval of the Varra Companies Inc, ( "VCI ") Durham Combined Substitute Water Supply <br />Plan ( "SWSP ") to cover mining operations at the Durham, Dakolios, and Western Sugar Pit. The original <br />plan was approved in May 2004 and was most recently approved on November 16, 2011 for operations <br />through December 31, 2012. The required renewal fee of $771 ($257 x 3 gravel pits) has been submitted <br />(receipt # 3657861 and 3659539). This renewal adds to the plan the Applicant's Western Sugar Pit. That <br />pit was previously included in a separate SWSP (WDID 0302554) but will now be included in this <br />combined SWSP. <br />Plan Operation <br />VCI is the operator of the Durham pit. Mining is active at the Durham pit and depletions are <br />caused by evaporation of groundwater as well as operational losses including water lost in mined product, <br />dust control, and concrete batching. The Durham SWSP has been previously amended to include <br />evaporative losses from their Dakolios pit and depletions caused by the Feit Well (WDID 0304999) which <br />serves a batch plant on a parcel west of the Durham facility. This SWSP is amended again to include <br />depletions from the applicant's Western Sugar Pit. Mining is active at the Western Sugar Pit and <br />depletions are caused by evaporation of groundwater as well as operational losses including water lost in <br />mined product and dust control. Replacement water will come from Greeley Irrigation Company ( "GIC ") <br />shares and water stored in Tined reservoirs (112, Dakolios, and Von Ohlen). The storage water will be <br />from Rural Ditch storage water rights. The Rural Ditch stored water is also used in the Kurtz Pit SWSP <br />(DRMS M- 1999 -006, WDID 0502513). <br />Depletions <br />Durham Pit <br />The anticipated net depletion for this plan is 64.70 acre -feet per year. The currently exposed <br />groundwater at the site totals 59.6 acres. According to the information submitted, 44.6 acres of water <br />surface was exposed within the reclamation permit boundary prior to January 1, 1981. Based on the <br />Division 1 Water Court decision in case no. 2009CW49, the replacement of evaporative depletions is <br />not required for ground water exposed to the atmosphere prior to January 1, 1981 through open mining <br />Office of the State Engineer <br />ngineer <br />1313 Sherman Street, Suite 818 • Denver, CO 80203 • Phone: 303 - 866 -3581 • Fax: 303 -866 -3589 <br />www.water.state.co.us <br />