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<br />CHAPTER II <br /> <br />PROBLEMS AND NEEDS <br /> <br />With the current prospects of major energy resource development, <br />water supply requirements in the project area are expected to increase <br />greatly as well as change in character. In contrast to the new water <br />needs for energy, the continuing need for more irrigation water goes back <br />many years. Other needs of the area which could be beneficially affected <br />by water supply development are municipal and domestic use, fish conserva- <br />tion, wildlife habitat preservation, improved recreational opportunities, <br />and flood control. <br /> <br />The projected needs in this chapter were estimated by the Bureau of <br />Reclamation. The projections were influenced by a January 1975 Progress <br />Report on a Comprehensive Planning Program for Rio Blanco County, Meeker <br />and Rangely, by J.M. Bowers and Associates. <br /> <br />Industrial Water <br /> <br /> <br />The need for industrial water in the project area is projected at <br />about 140,000 acre-feet annually by the year 2000, although this figure <br />is highly dependent on future economic incentives. An estimated 30,000 <br />acre-feet would be self-supplied from local ground water sources, leav- <br />ing a net need of about 110,000 acre-feet. This annual requirement is <br />expected to consist of 70,000 acre-feet for oil-shale processing and <br />40,000 for uses associated with coal. ' <br /> <br />The water quality of local supplies is discussed in Chapter III. It <br />is adequate for the industrial uses intended, although some treatment <br />may be needed for some processes; <br /> <br />Oil shale <br /> <br />The projected water requirement for oil shale is based' on conditions <br />which appear reasonable at this time but in the end may be far from <br />accurate. It is assumed that production of oil from oil shale will reach <br />about 600,000 barrels a day in the project area by the year 2000. This <br />would represent the combined production from several installations, as <br />described in the following paragraphs. The associated water requirement <br />would be in a range from 78,000 to 120,000 acre-feet a year or an aver- <br />age of 100,000. A water consumption rate of 13,000 to 20,000 acre-feet a <br />year for each 100,000 barrels a day of oil production is presented in <br />the Final Environmental Statement for the Prototype Oil Shale Leasing <br />Program, Department of the Interior, 1973 (p. 58 of Vol. IV). <br /> <br />14 <br />