This ordinance regulates the size of the footprint of the mining operation, and establishes no regulatory depth limit for off-channel mining. Unless an environmental analysis concludes that unacceptable environmental impacts will result, mining operations shall be encouraged to excavate the full depth of available resources at any particular mining site. In conjunction with a minimized mining footprint, this will ensure efficiency in resource extraction, help minimize impacts to agriculture by containing the area of surface disturbance of any individual mining operation, and minimize impacts of water loss associated with evaporation from reclaimed lakes.
(Ord. 1518, eff. February 13, 2020)