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002420 INTRODUCTION The Yampa River bas in encompasses an area of app-roximately 8,000 square miles (20,000 km2) and includes the watershed catchments drained by the Yampa River and the Little Snake River subbasins above Dinosaur National Monument (fig. 1). Current year-round population in the basin is estimated at 18,000'; however, due to large seasonal influxes of people for recreation during winter and summer, seasonal populations are substantially higher. Major population centers are Craig and Steamboat Springs (fig. 1), which together account for more than one-half of the basin's total population. Economic activities in the basin include agriculture, timber, recreation, and mining. Energy resources in the Yampa River basin in Colorado and Wyoming,are being developed. Coal is the dominant energy resource being developed, with annual production in northwestern Colorado expected to increase from 3,7 mil- lion tons (3,4 million t) in 1974 to over 20 million tons (18 million t) by 1990, Other energy resources in the basin include oil and gas, oil shale, uranium, and geothermal springs. Decisions affecting policy of energy-resource development need to con- sider the environmental and economic impact of this development, Energy- resource development leads to increased discharge of residuals to water, air, and land. Residuals are the noneconomic byproducts of energy-development ac- tivities (Bower and Basta, 1973), Discharged residuals will modify environ- mental quality, and attempts to modify or reduce residual discharges will affect both the quantity and quality of the basin's water resources. ,The Yampa River Basin Assessment project (referred to in this re'port as the basin assessment) was started March 31, 1975, and is one of a series of pilot multidisciplinary studies supported by the U.S, Geological Survey, Through interactions with agencies responsible for regional planning and de- velopment, these studies will help to determine the types and forms of hydro- logic, geologic, and other information useful to decision-making administra- tors in their analysis of policies affecting development and use of natural resources, Project staff members are headquartered in the Colorado District, lakewood, The Yampa basin~assessment study is scheduled to be completed by the end of September 1977. The initial study phase (Phase 1) of the assessment has concentrated on describing the environmental setting of the basin and the current and fore- casted energy-development plans, The five major work elements of the ass'ess- ment's first phase are indicated in table 1. The first phase of the study consists of assessing, prior to development of energy-related activities, the present environmental conditions (both the hydrologic and physical conditions) in the Yampa River basin, Subsequently, the relative impact on the environ- ment of the various proposed plans for energy-resource development will be evaluated, Phase I emphasizes the analysis of existing data in order to de- termine the kinds, amounts, and spatial and temporal coverages of additional data needed to effectively conduct the second phase (Phase Ii) of the basin assessment. The Phase-I work elements of the basin assessment are described in some detail by Steele, Bauer, Wentz, and Warner (1976), A summary report document- ing the results of the Phase-I analysis currently is in preparation. 2