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vem-., roj ? c <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />DIVISION OF RECLAMATION, MINING AND SAFETY <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />1313 Sherman St., Room 215 <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-3567 <br />FAX: (303) 832-8106 <br />COLORADO <br />D I V I S I ON OF <br />RECLAMATION <br />MINING <br />SAFETY <br />Bill Ritter, Jr. <br />Governor . <br />May 6, 2009 Harris D. Sherman <br />Executive Director <br />Dr. Mark J. Vanarelli Ronald W. Cattany <br />Division <br />Water Resources Engineer Director <br />Natural Resource Trustee <br />Division of Water Resources, Office of the State Engineer <br />1313 Sherman Street, Suite 818 <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />RE: Seneca II-W Mine (Permit No. C-1982-057) <br />Technical Revision Application No. 62 (TR-62) <br />Response to Midterm Adequacy Review <br />Dear Dr. Vanarelli: <br />This letter is in response to your letter to me, dated February 24, 2009. Your letter was in regard to water <br />rights related issues associated with the above referenced technical revision application, submitted by <br />Seneca Coal Company LLC (SCC) for their Seneca II-W Mine. Upon receipt of your letter, we <br />forwarded it to SCC. We had previously issued an adequacy review letter that requested certain water <br />rights related documentation required by our rules, along with additional information unrelated to water <br />rights. SCC submitted responses to address our adequacy concerns as well as the issues you raised, in a <br />submittal dated March 19, 2009. In Enclosure A to this letter, we have included a copy of SCC's March <br />19 letter, and water rights related information that was included in that submittal. Enclosure B contains <br />SCC's proposed amendments to the Water Rights Protection and Mitigation section of Permit Tab 16, <br />which was included in a January 22, 2009 TR-62 submittal package. Enclosure C is a copy of Tab 13, <br />page 5, from the Seneca II-W approved permit application package, which includes a commitment <br />regarding permanent impoundment demonstrations. We hope the information in this letter will provide <br />sufficient background for you to evaluate SCC's responses in regard to water rights, and to address the <br />water rights related questions that we raise here below. <br />As a preface to the questions we have, I believe it would be appropriate to include specific regulatory <br />provisions from the DRMS Coal Regulations that relate to water rights, which are pertinent to the water <br />rights issues addressed in TR-62. <br />Rule 2.04.7(3) Alternative Water Supply Information. The application shall identify the extent <br />to which the proposed surface coal mining operatons may proximately result in contamination, <br />diminution, or interruption of an underground or surface source of water within the proposed <br />permit area and adjacent areas for domestic, agricultural, industrial, fish and wildlife, or other <br />legitimate use. If contamination, diminution, or interruption may result, then the description <br />shall identify the alternative sources of water supply or sources of augmentation water that could <br />be developed to replace the existing sources. The alternate or substituted water shall be of a <br />quality and quantity so as to meet the requirements for which the water has normally been used. <br />(See Article 83 and 92 of Title 37 of the Colorado Revised Statutes) <br />Office of Office of <br />Mined Land Reclamation Denver • Grand Junction • Durango Active and Inactive Mines