WSP00132

• File Number: 8271.300
• Description: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program - General Information and Publications-Reports
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 6/1/1980
• Title: Use of Saline Water in Energy Development
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

much more stable thBn horizontal perme-
ability) averages about 5 percent while that
of the Ferron sandstone is about 0.4 percent.

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3. Most of the resistivity logs in the
study region which include drill stem tests
and would therefore yield good permeability
information, have already been analyzed in
groundwater studies by the U.S. Geological
Survey. The reports themselves were avail-
able and used.

The calculated amount of water that
would drain freely from the upper 100
feet of sandstone in one-half of the 108,000
square mile Upper Colorado River Basin area
(assuming a specific yield of 8 percent) is
277 million ae-ft. Of course, not all of
these aquifers would produce wells with
sufficient yield to make groundwater produc-
tion economically feasible. But on the other
hand, much of the saline water is in alluvial
deposits in valleys which would yield con-
s iderably more than the sandstone aquifers
indicated above.

Individuals who have studied parts of
the Colorado River Basin area are confident
that great quantities of underground water
are there, probably well in excess of 200
million ac-ft, and they also believe that
much of this CBn probably be recovered. This
estimate corresponds roughly with the above
calculat ion.

Water Requirements for
Energy Development

Water is used in many aspects of energy
development including mining, reclamation of
mined land, onsite processing, transporta-
tion, power plant cooling, refining, and
conversion of the mined fuels to other forms
of energy. Projections of water requirements
for the basin vary greatly with time, and
with the individual making the projection,
but the general concensus is that more
will be required than is presently available.
This means that not only will present uses
have to change but additional sources will
need to be developed.

Figure 13, made in 1978, depicts on-
going and projected energy related projects
in the Upper Colorado Ri ver Bas in. Numbers
of projected facilities, identified on this
map, are itemized by type in Table 3. An
estimate of the amount of water required to
operate these projects can be made by uti-
lizing data from Tables 4 and Sa in conjunc-
t ion with those from Table 3. Table 5b
indicates the expected percent increase in
market price of various energy products if
saline water requiring treatment costing
$500/ac-ft more than high quality waters.
One might infer that it is economically
realistic to utilize saline waters in energy
development even if relatively high treat-
ment costs are involved. The present study
is interested primarily in water for coal-
f ired power plant cooling, and water as
a transport medium for slurrying coal in

Table 3.

Number of future energy-related
ects, by type of faci Ii ty.
Figure 13.)

proj -
(From

Type of Facility Number

Strip Coal Mines 31
Underground Coal Mines 51
Coal-fired Electric Generating Plants 9
Coal Conversion Plants 3
Oil Shale Projects 10
Uranium Mines 30
Uranium Mills and Enrichments 5
Oil Refineries 5
Natural Gas Projects 3
Tar Sands Projects 2
Coal Slurry Pipelines 2
Petroleum and Natural Gas Pipelines 2
Total Facilities 153

Table 4. Btu yield of various energy sources
(Water and Energy 1974),

Sources Units Btu Yield
Bituminous Coal 1 ton 15 - 26 x 106
Oil 1 barrel 5.8 x 106
Electrical Output 1 kwhr 3412
Natural Gas 1 it3 1032
Synthetic Gas 1 ft3 900

pipelines. Calculations indicate that
water for the coal-fired electric generating
plants, which will total about 12 500
MWe output capacity, will be roughly 16i,000
ac-ft per year. Water required for coal
slurry pipelines is about equal in weight
to the tonnage of coal to be shipped. Only
two of these lines are shown on the map but
mor~ will be needed to move coal withi~ the
baSIn as well as to transport it to locations
on the outside.
If low quality water can be utilized
successfully for these two purposes, nearly
equivalent amounts of good water will be made
available for other uses. The following
sections of the report discuss these pos-
sibilities.

Conclusions

1. Surface water supplies in the Upper
Colorado River Basin are apparently s.uf-
ficient to continue to provide for a moderate
amount of energy development with only
a minimal adverse effect on irrigated agri-
culture.

2. As world energy costs continue to
rise, the rate of development of energy
resources (coal, oil, natural gas, oil shale,
tar sand, and uranium) in the Upper Colorado
River Basin will increase, and additional
sources of water will be required.

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