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HomeMy WebLinkAbout921521.tiff- .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. VT ncrr: -TY TUTTLE APPLEGATE, INC. Consultants for Land and Resource Development r1 19 ,1 9: 33 October 15, 1992 CLERY Ms. Lorraine Stepenske Division of Minerals and Geology 1313 Sherman Street, Room 215 Denver, CO 80203 RE: Adequacy Response; M-92-069 Dear Lorraine: With this letter I would like to respond to your questions of October 7 , 1992 on the 83rd Joint Venture Resource. I will use the same numbering order as used in your letter. 1 . The No. 7 landowner, Larson, has been added to Exhibit C which is enclosed. As we discussed, the No. 15 landowner (Evans) is the previous owner from which 83rd Joint Venture purchased the property. We do agree to eliminate Tamarix from our list of reclamation plants. In addition, the operator commits that not more than 30% of the total number of trees and shrubs will be of any one species. 2 . With this letter you will find a copy of a compensation agreement with the Elliott land owners who have the house to the west. We continue to attempt to obtain the same agreement with Rodman, owners of the house to the east. If this agreement cannot be obtained, the operator commits that all mining activities (including stockpiles) will not be any closer than 25 feet to the dwellings, fences, and power poles of this home and the pit will be no closer than 200 feet to any of these structures. We will indicate these distances in the field by driving metal T stakes at the appropriate locations. 3 (a) Upon approval by Weld County, we will submit a copy of the County Commissioners resolution approving the Use by Special Review for mining in the County. This application will note a 25 foot setback from the right-of-way of F Street. We expect this resolution to be forthcoming the first part of November. UL - PL0885 ifJLC rvLu,V-� 921521 YY1tD� cc ; rat , HG. CR I't,a3BS I061 ./ 0 , 11990 Grant Street, #410 Telephone: (303 ) 452-6611 f �CO- Denver, Colorado 80233 Facsimile: ( 303 ) 452-2759 Ms. Lorraine Stepenske Division of Minerals and Geology October 15, 1992 Page 2 (b) At this point we do not have a compensation agreement with Bellwether Exploration, Colorado and Southern Railroad, or the overhead utility companies. It appears we will be doing an engineering soils stability analysis to demonstrate that our mining activity and the setbacks will not adversely affect the stability of any of these structures. We request the permit approval contain the condition which says the operator cannot mine within 200 feet of these structures until the engineering soils stability analysis has been reviewed by your staff. (c ) We are presently working on a relocation and compensation agreement with the Boyd Freeman Ditch Company. Again we ask your permit approval contain a condition that states we will not mine within 200 feet of this ditch until we submit the relocation agreement to you. 4 . Acknowledge 5. Acknowledge 6(a) Acknowledge (b) With regard to the asphalt plant, we assume the blowdown water you mention is the water used in the scrubbers. The water is recycled through two plastic lined ponds where the wet dust is allowed to settle out. The AC oil from the tanker truck is pumped into a tank in the asphalt batch plant. In 40 years of work, the applicant never has had a major spill. Minor spills may occur, and the AC oil is soaked up by sand. This soaked sand is then put in the asphalt recycle pile and later used for road base. 7 . Acknowledge 8(a) Locations of the five proposed monitoring wells has been noted on Exhibit C. Ms. Lorraine Stepenske Division of Minerals and Geology October 15, 1992 Page 3 (b) The operator agrees to monitor the groundwater level in the five monitoring wells and the two adjoining wells (if permission is received) on a quarterly basis and will submit this information to you in an annual report. We will begin the monitoring before the operation begins so we can obtain some baseline data. These above commitments constitute our monitoring plan. We still question the need to monitor temperature and conductivity in each of the wells. The reason a temperature reading would be needed escapes me. We discussed conductivity giving some indication of possible suspended solids in the groundwater and thus giving an indication of water quality impacts to the groundwater from mining. Please remember we are doing a dry mining operation and will not have a lake with turbid waters which could push into the groundwater. The groundwater to be monitored is the groundwater that is already there but we expect it might be at a lower level. We do not expect any increased suspended solids because our mining operation has no way of introducing this into the present groundwater. Therefore, we prefer not to include temperature and conductivity in our monitoring plan. (c) If recharge ponds are used, the operator will submit a design for the ponds prepared by a professional engineer. Also we will locate the ponds on Exhibit C and determine how these ponds might affect the stability of dwellings. 9 . Acknowledge 10 . We accept your calculation of $56,702 .04 as the amount of the financial warranty. 11 . Acknowledge 12 . Acknowledge With this letter we are including a copy of the Substitute Water Supply Plan and the well permit application. In previous applications the submittal of this information has satisfied the Exhibit G requirements because the State Engineer had been fully informed of the affects of mining and measures to augment water. Ms. Lorraine Stepenske Division of Minerals and Geology October 15, 1992 Page 4 A copy of this letter is also being forwarded to the Weld County Clerk. A copy of the certified mailing receipt is also enclosed. If you have any questions, please call me. Cordially, TUTTLE APPLEGATE, INC. an Gary J Tuttle GJT r. Encs. cc: File #92-106B Carl Hill, 83rd Joint Venture Weld County Clerk to the Board - TUTTLE APPLEGATE, INC. Consultants for Land and Resource Development August 25, 1992 Mrs Judy Sappington State Engineer's Office 1313 Sherman Street - Room 818 Denver, Colorado 80203 RE: Application for Temporary Substitute Water Supply Plan for 83rd Joint Venture Resource Gravel Pit - MLRD No. 92-069 Dear Mrs Sappington: The purpose of this letter is to request approval of a substitute water supply plan pursuant to Section 37-80-120 (2 ) C.R.S. on behalf of Bestway Paving for their 83rd Joint Venture Resource sand and gravel operation. Bestway Paving is in the process of acquiring the necessary permits from the State and the County for the subject operation. Attached with this letter is a check made out to the Division of Water Resources for $130; $60 for a gravel pit well permit and $70 for the substitute supply plan review. A. INTRODUCTION The 83rd Joint Venture Resource property is located along the Cache La Poudre River in Weld County northwest of Greeley. Water use at the site will include evaporation from exposed groundwater, water retained in the material removed from the site, and water used for dust control. The applicant intends to make replacements to the stream system with water from the Boyd and Freeman Ditch. B. DEPLETIONS 1. Evaporation The mine site is in an area with a high water table and water will be exposed at the site due to sand and gravel mining. However, the mining area will be dewatered with a dewatering trench around the perimeter of the pit. 11990 Grant Street, #410 Telephone: (303) 452-6611 Denver, Colorado 80233 Facsimile: (303) 452-2759 • Mrs. Judy Sappington State Engineer's Office August 25, 1992 Page 2 Enclosed with this report is a copy of Exhibit C of the Mined Land Reclamation Division application. During the first few years of mining the dewatering trench will extend around the perimeter of Mining Phase 1. It is anticipated that a maximum of 0.25 acres of water surface will be exposed in the dewatering trench during this first phase of mining. Water will be discharged to the Cache La Poudre River via a county waste ditch. The NOAA Technical Report NWS 33, 'Evaporation Atlas for the Contiguous 48 United States' , published by the U.S. Department of Commerce was used to determine the amount of evaporation. The annual evaporation is 42 inches at the subject location. The monthly evaporation was then calculated by using the monthly percentages as suggested by the Office of the State Engineer in their criteria for these reports (See Table No. 1 ) . Precipitation at the site was found by using data from the publication, 'Climatography of the United States No. 81' . The precipitation at the mine site is estimated to be the same as that found at the nearest weather station which is located in Greeley. The annual mean precipitation is 12.68 inches/year. The breakdown of monthly averages is found in Table No. 1. Effective precipitation was determined in order to compute the net lake evaporation (See Table No. 1) . Effective precipitation was computed as 70% of the total precipitation. Effective precipitation was then subtracted from the gross evaporation to obtain the net evaporation. The net annual evaporation from a lake surface at the subject site is 2 .76 ft (33.1 inches) . In addition to the groundwater exposed due to excavation below the water table, water will be exposed in the wash ponds that will be constructed on the site. The washing operation is discussed in more detail below. The dewatering operation will expose 0.25 acres and the wash pond will expose 0.70 acres. Consequently the net evaporation from 0.95 acres of water surface will be 2.62 acre-feet. The total monthly evaporation is listed on Table No. 1. Mrs. Judy Sappington State Engineer's Office August 25, 1992 Page 3 2 . Operational Losses a. Moisture Loss in Material There will be excavation and sale of material from the property. It is anticipated that a maximum of 300,000 tons of material will be mined and washed from 83rd Joint Venture Resource this coming year. A 4% moisture content as suggested by the State Engineer would equate to 8.83 acre-feet per year. The monthly breakdown of sale of materials is listed on Table No. 1. b. Dust Control Water will be withdrawn from the pit which will be used for dust control on the haul roads. It is estimated the roads will be watered two times per day on the average using a water truck with spray heads. There will be approximately 1950 linear feet of haul road that will be constructed on the site. The application rate is approximately 1/8 inch and, therefore, 0.022 acre-feet of water will be applied daily. The average number of days water will be applied to the haul roads will be 140 per year. This equates to 3. 13 acre-feet annually. It is assumed the water applied to the road will be fully consumed. The monthly projected use of water for dust control is listed on Table No. 1. c. Washing Operation A wash plant will be set up on the site. Water will be cycled through the plant, captured and routed to a three cell pond, and then recycled again. It is expected the total area of the pond will be a maximum of 0.7 acres in size. The evaporative loss from the pond is addressed above in this report. The wash water is physically captured in the plant and is carried by a pipe to the wash pond. All losses will be negligible with the exception of evaporation from the ponds and the water retained in the sand and gravel. Both of these losses were presented above. Mrs. Judy Sappington State Engineer's Office August 25, 1992 Page 4 The total annual consumptive use for the operation is projected as follows: Evaporation 2.62 acre-feet Moisture Retained 8.83 acre-feet in Material Dust Control 3.13 acre-feet Total 14.59 acre-feet C. REPLACEMENTS 1. Source of Replacements The Boyd and Freeman Ditch is the sole supply of irrigation water for the subject site which will be mined. Approximately 85 acres of the 124 acre site is irrigated with the ditch. Bestway Paving owns 240 shares of the capital stock of the Boyd Irrigation Company. There are a total of 993 shares in the Boyd Irrigation Company and they own the Boyd and Freeman Ditch. Attached with this letter is a copy of the stock certificate. The decree for the Boyd and Freeman Ditch, enclosed with this letter as Exhibit A, can be summarized as follows: AMOUNT ADJUDICATION APPROPRIATION (CFS) DATE DATE 54.05 04/11/1882 03/15/1862 The Boyd and Freeman Ditch originally had three decrees. The first decree is for 66.05 cubic feet per second. The other two decrees to the ditch were for the first and second enlargement of the ditch and the corresponding amounts were for 9.00 and 24.23 cubic feet per second respectively. Both decrees associated with the ditch enlargements were abandoned. In addition, in 1926 two transfers were made from the Boyd and Freeman Ditch to the Cities of Greeley and Fort Collins for the amounts of 5.00 and 7.00 cfs. Therefore, only the first decree is valid and 54.05 cfs is committed to the ditch. Mrs. Judy Sappington State Engineer's Office August 25, 1992 Page 5 Table No. 2 is a list of the headgate diversions for the 15 year period of 1976 to 1990 for the Boyd and Freeman Ditch as reported by the State Engineer's Office. The fifteen year average annual diversion for the subject period is 1, 106 acre-feet. The pro-rated average annual diversion for the 240 shares equates to 267 acre- feet. It has been assumed the ditch seepage and evaporation losses are 10% of the total headgate diversions. It has also been assumed the farm efficiency has been 55%. Therefore, the total overall efficiency, the quantity of headgate diversions that are consumed by evapotranspiration, is 50%. The average water supply to the subject farm during the study period is 133.7 acre-feet of consumptive use. A Blaney Criddle analysis was performed for the period 1976-1990 for the site to determine the potential crop consumptive use. The primary crop grown on the site for many years is pasture grass. The results of the analysis are listed on Table No. 3. The average annual consumptive use for pasture grass for the site is 24 .51 during the study period. Approximately 85 acres are irrigated on the subject site. Therefore, the average demand of water during the study period is 173.6 acre-feet. Table No. 4 lists the available replacement water from the 240 shares of the Boyd and Freeman Ditch. The monthly historic consumptive use, available replacement water, is equal to the water demand or the water supply whichever is less for each month. The annual consumptive use is 133.6 acre-feet or 1.57 acre-feet per acre. 2. Method of Replacement A minimum of ten acres of pasture grass will be dried up and monumented to the satisfaction of the local Water Commissioner. Ten acres equates to 15.7 acre-feet of consumptive use. Water not used due to the dry up of the ten acres of pasture grass will be passed through the ditch and will be diverted back to the Cache La Poudre River. The ditch ends at 35th Avenue and any excess water in the ditch is carried in a large stormwater ditch which runs on the east side of 35th Avenue. The waste ditch flows directly north until it reaches the river. Mrs. Judy Sappington State Engineer's Office August 25, 1992 Page 6 3 . Timing of Replacement The site is approximately 300 feet from the Cache La Poudre River. Consequently, the time lag of the depletions to the river was not assumed to be instantaneous. Timing of the depletions was found by using the computer model, 'Analytical Stream Depletion Model' , by Dewayne R. Schroder from the State Engineer's Office. Values for the input parameters and results of the computer model are attached with this letter. The well location was assumed to be at the center of the proposed lakes. The impermeable boundary was located on a USGS topographic map. The USGS publication, 'Pumping Tests in Colorado - Colorado Ground Water Circular No. 11 ' was used to estimate the value of transmissivity. A pump test was done on a well located in Section 34, Township 6 North, Range 66 West and the transmissivity was determined to be 120,000 gpd/ft. This same value was used for the evaluation of the subject operation in Section 35. A value of 0.2 was used for Specific Yield which would be typical of an alluvial aquifer. The depletions at the pit were converted from acre-feet per month to gallons per minute for use with the computer model. Table No. 5 lists the results from the depletions analysis. The annual depletions at the river for the first year are 6.9 acre-feet. By year five the annual depletions at the river are the same as the depletions at the pit of 14 .6 acre-feet. it is proposed in this plan that all replacements are made to the stream during the irrigation season as shown on Table No. 4 as a result of the dry-up of ten acres of pasture grass. D. ADJACENT WELLS Attached with this letter is a copy of the Permitted and Decreed Water Well Map and list of wells provided with the MLRD Exhibit G information. Wells within quarter/quarter sections which potentially could be within 600 feet of the proposed gravel pit have been plotted on the map. Also provided with this letter are the tabulations for well permits and water rights in the vicinity. Specific locations were plotted if distances from section lines were provided. Mrs. Judy Sappington State Engineer's Office August 25, 1992 Page 7 Only permitted Well #51654, well B, appears to clearly be within 600 feet of the operation. The following wells may to be within 600 feet of the proposed pit: WELL DESIGNATION PERMIT NUMBER NAME D NONE LARSON WELL NO. 1 E NONE LARSON WELL NO. 2 F 3597F POERTNER I 13952 PUTNAM WELL NO. 1 Each of these wells will be verified in the field for their location. A waiver agreement will be obtained from each well owner within 600 feet of the proposed gravel pit perimeter. E. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1 . The pit will be continuously dewatered and, therefore, evaporation will be limited to the water exposed in the dewatering trench and water exposed in the settling ponds. The total annual evaporative loss will be 2 .62 acre-feet 2. Other water uses will include water diverted for dust control, 3. 13 acre-feet, and water retained in the material exported off the site, 8.83 acre-feet. 3. The source of replacement water is water associated with the Boyd and Freeman Ditch. The property which will be mined has been irrigated with the ditch and the historic consumptive use is 1.57 acre-feet per acre. Therefore, a dry-up of a minimum of ten acres will provide 15.7 acre-feet of replacement water for this plan. 4. The site sits back from the river approximately 3500 feet and, therefore, there is a delay in the timing of the depletions as they reach the river. However, it is proposed in this plan that replacements will be done during the irrigation season. 5. There appears to be wells which are within 600 feet of the proposed gravel pit. A wavier agreement will be obtained from each well owner within 600 feet. Mrs. Judy Sappington State Engineer's Office August 25, 1992 Page 8 6 . The applicant will use the attached accounting form to keep record of monthly water use. These forms will be made available to the Water Commissioner or the Division Engineer upon request. 7 . This plan is requested for one year with the option for renewal. 8 . An annual report will be supplied to the State Engineer. This completes our application for a substitute water supply plan. If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to call. Cordially, TUTTLE PPLEGATE, INC. Dave S. ones DSJ\sjr Encs. cc: File #92-106A Carl Hill FORM NO. STATE OF COLOR/ l For Office Use only e/17 OFFICE OF THE St..E ENGINEER 923 Centennial Bldg., 1313 Sherman a_ Denver,Colorado 80203 (303) 886-3581 SEE INSTRUCTIONS ON REVERSE SIDE GRAVEL PIT WELL PERMIT APPLICATION 1. TYPE OF PERMIT (® NEW PIT(S) ❑ PIT(S) EXIST, CONSTRUCTED AFTER DEC. 31, 1980 ❑ REACTIVATION OF PRE JAN. 1, 1981 PIT(S) . 2. OWNER NAME(S) Bestway Paving Mailing Address P.O. Box 3189 City, St. Zip Greeley, CO 80633 Phone ( 303 ) 353-1654 3. ADDRESS OF LOCAL CONTACT (If different than #2) . NAME(S) Mailing Address City. St. Zip Phone (__) 4. GENERAL LOCATION OF PIT(S): COUNTY Weld NE 1/4 SW 1/4, sec. 35 Twp. 6 El N. ❑S., Range 66 ❑ E. X❑w. 6th P.M. 5. Total number of water surface acres (to be) exposed 0.95 . Total Number of Pits • 2 . • 6. Estimated total depth of pit 1 R . Estimated depth to groundwater 4 7. (a) Estimated date to begin excavation Fall 1992 ,to complete excavation Fa I I ZUl Z 8. ATTACHMENTS: (Check which have been attached.) (a) Scaled map of pit area tied to a Section or 1/4 Corner (Required). (b) O Copy of the reclamation permit if applicable. (c) ❑ Copy of Pre 1/15/89 Water Conservancy Dist. or Water User Assoc. Augmentation Agreement if applicable (d) ® Copy of proposed Augmentation or Temporary Supply Plan if applicable. (e) ❑ Copy of Court approved Augmentation Plan if applicable. . (f) ❑ Other 9. Detailed description of the use and method of diversion of any water withdrawn from the pond. Water Will be diverted from the pit for dust control on the site and water will also )e diverted for washing the sand and gravel . 10. I (we) have read the statements made herein and know the contents thereof, and that they are true to my (ow) knowledge. [Pursuant to Section 24-4-104 (13)(a) C.R.S., the making of false statements herein constitutes perjury in the second degree and is punishable as a class 1 misdemeanor.] Name/Title (Please type or print) Ce // �t !Sig ate ap,thiore � _ Ig11 92 1,5 For Office Use only Court Case No. Div. Co. _ WD Basin MD Use Hello