WSP09512

• File Number: 8200.765
• Description: White River General
• State: CO
• Basin: Yampa/White
• Water Division: 6
• Date: 11/1/1979
• Author: Clifford H Jex
• Title: Plan for the Water Supply for Development of Oil Shale Industry in White River Basin - Colorado
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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I 1'l;'\?970
,..... u ~l w

Annual I
Water Requirement ( )
(acre feet)

12,960
51,840
/29,600

Uniform 2
Flow Rate ( )
(cfs)
20
80
200

Production
(bpd)

100,000
400,000
1,000,000

(/) Based on production load factor of 90 percent
(2) Based on 90 percal t load factor

Surface Water Resource
The portion of the White River Basin which is located in Colorado covers 3,808
square miles and is located in western Colorado, bounded on the south by the Colorado
River Basin and on the north by the Yampa River Basin. Elevations within the White
River Basin vary from about 5,000 feet where the White River crosses the Colorado-Utah
state line to 12,000 feet on the White River Plateau in the headwaters. The area is
sparsely populated and prior to the start of the energy development only 6,000 people
resided in the Basin with more than half of the population living in the towns of Meeker,
Rangely and Dinosaur, and the remainder living on valley ranches and farms.
The water supply of the White River Basin comes principally from melting of the
winter snowpacks in the high mountains, augmented by summer precipitation. Due to
the varied climatological and meteorological difference in the various parts of the Basin,
there is considerable variation in runoff ranging from 20 inches in the higher areas to less
than I inch in the desert areas at lower elevations. On an average more than 40 percent
of the annual runoff occurs in the months of May and June. It is estimated that
approximately 94 percent of the runoff originates in the upper part of the Basin above
Station No. 09304800 shown in Figure I. Figure I shows the location of Gage No.
09304800 and the locations of other surface runoff gages which are maintained within
the Basin by the United States Geological Survey. The records of Station No. 09306500
located opproximately 10 miles downstream from the point where the White River crosses
the Colorado-Utah state line, indicate that the average annual discharge during the 55
years of record (1923-1970) is 502,800 acre feet. This compares with an average annual
discharge of 444,800 acre feet for Station No. 09304800 located approximately 10 miles
downstream of Meeker, for the 17-year period 1961-1978.

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