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<br />" ' <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />WATER PROSPECTS FOR THE <br />EMERGING OIL SHALE INDUSTRY <br /> <br />~ <br />~~ <br />~ <br /> <br />BY FELIX L. SPARKS, DIRECTOR <br />COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD <br /> <br />BEFORE THE 7TH OIL SHALE SYMPOSIUM <br />COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES <br /> <br />0595 <br /> <br />April lB, 1974 <br /> <br />In 1959 the Colorado Water Conservation Board of the <br /> <br />state of Colorado employed the consulting firm of Cameron and Jones <br /> <br />to make an appraisal of the estimated water requirements of a mature <br /> <br />oil shale industry within the state of Colorado. An obvious problem <br /> <br />at the outset was to determine the extent of future shale oil pro- <br /> <br />duction. That could not be done either then or now. However, it <br /> <br />was projected that the industry would eventually reach a capacity of <br /> <br />at least one million barrels of oil per day. We now believe that <br /> <br />this production will be achieved within the next ten to fifteen years <br /> <br />and could increase considerably thereafter. <br /> <br />For planning purposes, the eventual production of one <br /> <br />million barrels per day was used. On this basis the Cameron and <br /> <br />Jones report estimated that the shale oil production and associated <br /> <br />municipal and industrial growth would require the consumptive use <br /> <br />of 130,000 acre-feet of water per year. It should be noted at this <br /> <br />point that in the Colorado River Basin we are concerned primarily <br /> <br />with consumptive use rather than stream diversions. This is because <br /> <br />the Colorado River Compact and the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact <br />