Dunes and Deflation: Excavations at LA 124525 and LA 161918 at the Intrepid Potash East Mine, Eddy County, New Mexico

In July 2010, the area around the lower east catchment basin at Intrepid Potash, Inc.’s East Mine was disturbed to allow for road and additional access around the pond. A series of ponds around the East mine tailings pile are designed to store brine water for re-use in the processing plant. The lower east catchment basin is the last pond in this series of ponds. The construction of additional access was required for water management activities during a high precipitation event that eventually required Intrepid to release water from a discharge structure at the lower east catchment basin into Nash Draw drainage. The BLM-CFO identified two known archaeological sites in the vicinity of the catchment basins that would be adversely affected by the construction and cleanup activities. These are LA 124525 and LA 161918. This document contains a summary of the data recovery work conducted at LA 124525 and LA 161918 to mitigate any adverse effect. Data recovery including surface collection, the treatment of features, prospection for additional features, and geomorphological studies conducted at LA 124525.