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<br />
<br />GENERAL INTRODUCTION
<br />
<br />Background
<br />
<br />As energy costs continue to rise
<br />throughout the world, the United States looks
<br />more and more to the development of domestic
<br />fossil fuel reserves, many of which are
<br />located in the semiarid regions of the
<br />intermountain west. Unfortunately, the
<br />development of these resources requires large
<br />amounts of water, and the water supplies in
<br />these areas are for the most part already
<br />appropriated for culinary, irrigation,
<br />and cooling water uses, with the largest
<br />share going to agriculture. Water that has
<br />not yet been appropriated is largely under-
<br />ground, and much of it is very saline or
<br />briny, as measured on the salinity scale
<br />shown in Table 1.*
<br />
<br />These highly saline waters have been
<br />generally considered a liability rather than
<br />a resource. The greatest interest in the low
<br />quality water in the area, was as a possible
<br />contributor to the salinity of the Colorado
<br />River. Most well drilling has been for
<br />gas or oil, and so in many instances, data on
<br />the water encountered during drilling were
<br />not gathered. Even when water was sought,
<br />if it were saline, the well was often capped
<br />and the driller moved to a new location.
<br />
<br />Now the demand for water is shifting
<br />from agricultural to energy uses. This
<br />western region has an abundance of energy
<br />reserves, all of which require water for
<br />their development. As competition for water
<br />increases, prices paid for it will rise to
<br />the point that farmers can no longer afford
<br />to use it for farming. For example the
<br />Intermountain Power Project (IPP), planned
<br />for construction in Lynndyl, Utah, paid in
<br />excess of $1700 per acre foot for water
<br />purchased from agriculture. This is a big
<br />incentive for farmers in the area to abandon
<br />farming and sell all their water to energy
<br />developers. Existing developed SUpplies of
<br />fresh and slightly saline water are not suf-
<br />ficient for agriculture and energy develop-
<br />ment, too.
<br />
<br />One approach would be to supply some
<br />users with more saline water than has been
<br />used heretofore. As mapped by Feth et a1.
<br />
<br />~hroughout this report, all calcula-
<br />tions are made with the assumption that parts
<br />per million (ppm) and milligrams per liter
<br />(mg/l) are equal, and they are used inter-
<br />changeably.
<br />
<br />Table 1.
<br />
<br />Water salinity scale (U.S. Geologi-
<br />cal Survey).
<br />
<br />Class
<br />
<br />Dissolved Solids
<br />(milligrams per liter)
<br />
<br />
<br />Fresh
<br />Slightly saline
<br />Moderately saline
<br />Very saline
<br />Briny
<br />
<br />o -
<br />1,000 -
<br />3,000 -
<br />10,000 -
<br />over
<br />
<br />1,000
<br />3,000
<br />10,000
<br />35,000
<br />35,000
<br />
<br />(1965) in Figure 1, much of the energy-rich
<br />western United States is underlain by saline
<br />water at relatively shallow depths. If at
<br />least some of the energy development needs
<br />could be met with this low quality water that
<br />is not now being used for anything else,
<br />it would free large amounts of fresh water
<br />for agricultural, municipal, and other uses.
<br />The purpose of the present study is to
<br />investigate the availability of such water in
<br />the area and some of the poss ible uses that
<br />could be made of it in energy development.
<br />
<br />Study Area
<br />
<br />Much thought and cons iderat ion were
<br />expended in selecting the Upper Colorado
<br />River Basin as a study area. First of all,
<br />many completed studies provide background
<br />data and information. The area has potential
<br />for many different kinds of energy develop-
<br />ment schemes, processes, and opportuni ties.
<br />Energy resource deposits in the basin
<br />include coal, oil, oil shale, tar sands,
<br />uranium, and natural gas, all of which are
<br />currently in various stages of developmen!=.
<br />Fresh water is in short supply, and saline
<br />water is available.
<br />
<br />Coal gasification plants proposed for
<br />the basin, if constructed, would require
<br />upwards of 100,000 ac-ft of water per .ye~r.
<br />Coal-fired power generating facilItIes
<br />projected for the area would use more than
<br />500,000 ac-ft of water per year. In addition
<br />there are plans to construct coal-slurry
<br />pipelines, process oil shale, and increase
<br />mining of ores, and production of coal,
<br />uranium, and other energy related products,
<br />all of which will require water. Unless
<br />additional water sources can be found, most
<br />of the existing supplies in the basin may
<br />be utilized for developing energy, and
<br />agriculture will suffer. Before this is
<br />allowed, careful consideration should he
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