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<br />002419 <br /> <br />AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS OF COAL DEVELOPMENT <br /> <br />ON THE WATER RESOURCES OF THE YAMPA RIVER BASIN, <br />COLORADO AND WYOMING--PHASE-II WORK PLAN <br /> <br />By Timothy Doak Steele, Ivan C, James I I, Daniel P. Bauer, and others <br /> <br />ABSTRACT <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />Coal resources of the western United States are being developed at ever- <br />increasing rates, causing concerns of the effects of mining and associated <br />activities on the environment. The Yampa River basin in northwestern Colorado <br />and south-central Wyoming is undergoing economic development of its coal, oil <br />and gas, and uranium resources. 'By 1990, the annual coal mining in the basin <br />is expected to increase to 20 mill ion tons (18 million tonnes), or more than 4 <br />times the 1975 level. As a result, the regional population is expected to at <br />least double over the same period. Power-generation plants fueled by coal are <br />being expanded or constructed in the basin and will have a combined generating <br />capacity of nearly 1,200 megawatts by 1980. <br /> <br />The Yampa River Basin Assessment is a 2t-year program of the U,S. Geolog- <br />ical Survey. It is designed primarily to assess the availabil ity and qual ity, <br />of the basin's water resources. The basin assessment also will evaluate po- <br />tential environmental and selected socioeconomic impacts of energy-resource <br />development plans proposed by mining and power companies, This report serves <br />as a project work plan for the basin assessmen't, It descri,bes the program <br />objectives, and the various approaches of analysis and evaluation. Environ- <br />mental studies are outlined for analyzing both the direct effects of various <br />proposals regarding coal mining, transportaltion, and conversion, and the sec- <br />ondary effects resulting from increased population and urban growth, <br /> <br />Economic development in the Yampa River basin will generate higher lev- <br />els of residuals which are discharged into the environment, Residuals-man- <br />agement encompasses the technological and economic interrelationships that <br />should be considered to comply with Federal and State environmental-control <br />regulations regarding air quality, water quality, and disposal of solid wastes, <br />The basin assessment described by this report is designed to provide Federal, <br />State, and local decision-makers with the basic environmental information <br />needed to formulate and to evaluate pol icies for the development of energy <br />resources, The techniques applied and conclusions reached in the Yampa River <br />Basin Assessment should aid similar studies In other energy-rich basins in the <br />western United States, <br />