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. . An estimated 141.9 km3 (lIS maf) groundwater is stored in the upper 30 m of the basin, which is about four times more than the storage capacity of all reservoirs in the basin (Iorns et al. 1965). Of the 114.4 km3 qf precipitation entering the Colorado Plateau3annually, 4.93 km (4 maf) recharges the water table and 2.45 km are removed for consumptive purposes (Price and Arnow 1974). . . Despite this apparent abundance, ~roundwater quality is often less than acceptable. The Paradox BaSln in eastern Utah and western Colorado is underlain by sodium chloride-bearing and potassium-bearing strata (Heath 1984), and as much as 70% of the recoverable groundwater in the upper Colorado River Basin is saline and either detrimental to, or of limited value for, agriculture or municipal/industrial uses. For example, potable groundwater was found down to 1,980 m depth in the White River drainage, but salinity was high below that depth, with 2,000 to 80,000 ppm TDS and 10 times the acceptable fluorine concentration (Masse and Adams 1983). Calcium and magnesium bicarbonate ions in groundwater derived from Quaternary alluvium had 700 to 25,000 ppm TDS, and groundwater from the Tertiary Green River formation contained up to 12,000 ppm TDS. Spring discharge, temperature, and chemistry data were compiled in Utah by Mundorff (1971). He found that discharge in Utah springs were, for the most part, variable (the variance in discharge exceeded 100%) and seasonal with maximum discharge from late April to mid-June. He noted relatively high concentrations of springs in the upper Green River, the Price River drainage, and in the vicinity of Moab. Surface Water Supplies Water quality at the headwaters of the Colorado River is generally good, except as noted below; however, as the river travels downstream it accumulates an increasing load of dissolved constituents from tributaries (Fig. 11). The White River's water quality is a calcium bicarbonate type upstream from Meeker, Colorado, but changes below the Piceance River mouth to a sodium calcium bicarbonate sulfate type (Boyle et al. 1984). Precipitation in the White River drainage falls largely as winter snow, with 22 inches in the headwater reaches and 7 inches at the confluence with the Green River. Boyle et ale (1984) found that 70% of the White River's annual flow occurs between May and July from runoff. The water quality of the Yampa River has been the subject of numerous studies. Travel-time estimates using dyes in the Yampa River range from 0.4 to 5.8 kmph. The Little Snake River, a large tributary of the Yampa that mouths near the top of Dinosaur . . . . . . 22 .