7637

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7637
• Author: McAda, C. W.
• Title: IRP Strategy for Upper Colorado River Basin.
• USFW Year: 1980.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

The principal water supply source in the Basin is surface water. The natural
surface water regime has been substantially altered by the construction of
over 30 major reservoirs having a total active storage of 34.5 million acre-
feet (maf). Main stem reservoirs account for 29.7 maf of this total, with
Lake Powell alone accounting for 25 maf.
Navajo, Flaming Gorge, Foplntenelle, the Curecanti Unit (Blue Mesa, Morrow
Point, and Crystal), and Lake Powell reservoirs make up the Colorado River
Storage Project (CRSP). A major function of these main stem reservoirs is
to regulate flows so that the Upper Basin States (Arizona, Colorado, New
Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) may consume their compact entitlements, yet
meet their compact obligations to deliver specified amounts of water to the
Lower Basin at Lee Ferry. Under present steady state conditions, the
average volume of water available in storage in the CRSP system would be
about 85 percent of the total active storage.
Depletions of surface water by consumptive uses within the Basin and
exports from the Basin average about 3.12 maf annually tinder present
(1975-1976) conditions of development. Agriculture accounts for nearly
70 percent of these depletions and exports about 25 percent. The remaining
5 percent is divided among thermal power generation, support of fish and
wildlife habitat, recreation facilities, mineral extraction, and municipal
and industrial uses.
Salt concentration and loadings are presently described as the most prevalent
water quality problems in the Basin. Due to the concentrating effects of
water withdrawals for consumptive use or export and reservoir evaporation, the
problem becomes more severe as the water flows downstream.
Because of limited exploration and use, the extent and quality of ground-
water resources in the Basin are difficult to quantify. Nonetheless,
groundwater could be a significant water supply source for some energy
development. Primary interest to date has focused on the Piceance Creek
structural basin, which lies in western Colorado's richest oil shale reserves.
Two artesian aquifers have been evaluated in this area, with estimates of
total volume ranging from 2.5 to 25 maf and annual recharge from 23,000 to
29,000 acre-feet. Yields from existing wells vary from 100 to 1,000 gallons
per minute.
The Green River Formation, which rims through Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, is
the major oil shale source in the United States. The formation is estimated to
contain more than 3 trillion barrels of oil. Eighty percent of the recoverable
oil in the Green River Formation is in the Piceance Creek Basin, a migration
route for the nation's largest deer herd. Estimates for deposits thicker than
15 feet, yielding more than 15 gallons per ton, place Colorado's resources at
400 billion barrels, Utah.'s at 120 billxQn barrels, and Wyoming's at 12
billion barrels.
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