Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />nn~ 991 <br /> <br />in northwestern Colorado was 4.6 million tons (4.2 mill ion t) in 1975 when <br />this study was begun. Production is expected to increase from more than <br />9.4 million tons (8.9 million t) in 1978 to more than 20 million tons <br />(18 mill ion t) by 1990. Other energy resources in the basin include oil and <br />gas, oil shale, uranium, and geothermal springs; however, all but oil and gas <br />are relatively unimportant in economic terms compared to the basin's 'coal <br />reserves. <br /> <br />Various plans for development of coal resources in the basin .were de- <br />scribed initially by Steele (1976) but have been modified substantially (Udis <br />and others, 1977; Steele and others, 1979). The anticipated coal-resource' <br />development will affect environmental qual ity by contributing increased <br />discharges of wastes to air, water, and land. Attempts to modify or reduce <br />the waste discharges will affect both the quantity and qual ity of the basin's <br />water resources. <br /> <br />The Yampa River basin assessment project (Steele and others, 1976a; <br />1976b; 1979) is evaluating the environmental effects of energy development in <br />the basin. The two main objectives of the assessment are: (1) To describe <br />the hydrology of the basin prior .to substantial cO.al-resource development <br />(phase I); and (2) to evaluate environmental and economic consequences of <br />coal-resource development, particularly in terms of the water resources of <br />the basin (phase I I). Details regarding the specific goals and objectives of <br />the basin assessment are given in the above reports. <br /> <br />This report relates to the first of the above objectives by describing <br />stream quality in the Yampa River basin through 1976, with particular <br />emphasis on conditions from August 1975 through September 1976. The content <br />of this report is, at times, relatively technical. This is intentional. The <br />report is aimed not at planners and decisionmakers but rather at those per- <br />sons assigned the task of having to design, implement, and interpret a river- <br />basin assessment. The techniques and procedures used to determine ambient. <br />stream qual ity in the Yampa River basin have been presented in detail so that <br />their appl icabil ity to other river basins can be determined. For the planner <br />and decisionmaker, the results presented in this report are summarized in <br />less technical terms in phase-I (Steele and others, 1979) and phase-II sum- <br />mary reports. <br /> <br />The authors wish to thank Phi11 ip E. Stark and his staff, Routt <br />Department of Environmental Health, and Robert Russell and his staff, <br />National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, for assistance in planning the <br />qual ity data-collection program and collecting data in Routt County. <br /> <br />County <br />Routt <br />water- <br /> <br />APPROACH <br /> <br />Two techniques were used to assess ambient stream qual ity in the Yampa <br />River basin. The first was to evaluate information accumulated as part of <br />past and ongoing studies; the second was to design and implement a data- <br />collection program to complement this prior knowledge. These aspects of the <br />stream-quality assessment are discussed in detail below. <br /> <br />3 <br />