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<br />GJ;)3'37 <br /> <br />sand acre feet of water would be required annually. This amount represents <br />only about 1/10th of 1% of current water consumption for the region. <br />Uranium mining may also expand considerably in the region in <br />response to increases in energy demands. However, the water consumed <br />would be much below that for coal mining. <br />Both natural revegetation and artifical restoration of strip- <br />mined lands requires water. Coal deposits in the six-state region occur <br />generally under semi-arid conditions where average annual precipitation is <br />in the neighborhood of 15 inches (Figure 6). Where annual precipitation <br />is adequate, nO problem may arise (although other factors, such as soil <br />fertility and stability and the availability of appropriate plant materials <br />may be as important as water availability) (Figure 7). In parts of the <br />region which are substantially drier than the regional average, in parts <br />where much of the annual precipitation occurs as winter snowfall, and in <br />large parts of the region in abnormally dry years, successful reclamation <br />may require irrigation. Where surface drainage patterns and/or aquifers <br />have been disturbed by the strip mining itself, withdrawals of water for <br />reclamation may further aggravate decreased water availability conditions. <br />Under drought conditions, assuming the same level of coal devel- <br />opment posited above, irrigation water requirements for revegetating newly <br />stripped lands might amount to 17,700 acre feet annually (NGPRP, 1975),7 <br />or up to twice the amount of water consumed in other aspects of the stri p <br />mining operations. Although reclamation water use of this magnitude would <br />probably occur infrequently, it could occur during dry years when demand <br />for water is greatest and water supply is most limited. Thus, although <br />reclamation water use would still be less than 2/10ths of 1% of regional <br />water consumption, its impact on water allocation during periods of ex- <br />treme shortage would be considerable. <br />Water quality problems associated with Inlmng activities in the <br />Upper Missouri Basin are potentially much more serious (except perhaps on <br />a highly local basis) than the water quantity problems outlined previously. <br />Water quality problems due to energy conversion probably will be inconse- <br /> <br />'.' <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />'-. ::.,.::;:..:....: :.."'..': <br />. {;~:.:>;~: :~:. it : }{:...:,~~:~.:~'~:::!~~. - : <br /> <br />. . .,~.. ,". <br /> <br />". ..: <br /> <br />. ., . <br />-'," . ". <br />.... >::.~t;~~{.;::::Li.).r;::::f <br /> <br />""'-.; <br /> <br />...: <br /> <br />14 <br />