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--~--- 18 Rocky MOuntain News Mon" March 11. 1974, Den...er, Colo. Is shale end of line for state wildlife? tCnnllnlll"d from pllltf' 3) tro\'('rsia] F 0 u r Coreers pa....er plants tn nonhw{'st :-;{'W ~Iexico. Such ~I'"nerating eXfJ8nslon will bring ~Ig. nifkant new degradation of air quality. :\0 Ofl{' krxr....s how air pollution in the Piceance Basin willaffl'"ct its wildlifl'". And then' will be more peoplE', The region's po~ullltion is eXpl'cted to double or triple by 19!15, int"rE'lIsing by pE'ma()S 160,OClO, New hous, ing developmt'nt .....iIl bE' built to accommodate them, Great new recreation demands will be placl'"d Upllfl the basin. "Thl' I'Heet of tho> prople cOuld be as bod as the effect of mining," Krager said. Speaking abuut lan;:e industrial \'entures like oil shale mining, the federal Council On En\'ironmental Quality fI(lted In 19TI: "Such secondar)' f'ffE'cts, through their impacls on existing community facilities and activities, through inducing nl'"W racilitil'"s and actidties, or throuo:h chang('s in natural ctlndltions, may ollen be more SUbstantial than the primary ef. fecL~ of the original action itsE'H." Kragl"r ralsE'd this critical question: "Work fof('('s supposedly .....111 be house<'! in Rangely. That's 40 mllf"S from Ca. Are they going to be able to commutl' that distance In the wtntE'Z"? Or arE' thE')' going to put In housing dE'velop- ments along Piceance Cr('l'"k? DcvE'lol'ment of the cr!'ek llfea WQuld be dE'\'astating to the muledt'(>rherd. To compound things, the basin', wUdlitl' wun't losE' just .....lntE'r range. The oil fihalE' lndustf')' will takE' thl'"ir water as well. By 19B;) it muld requiN' 150,000 arrl"-fcet of water a year lor procE's~ing tilt' fihale, plus an additional 30,000 3rre-feet for Ixw,er genE'ra- tion. (Den\"Cr used 240,000 acre-feE't 1111973l. ,,,.,\n:R TAB!.J: WrLL FALl. Much of thE' water will be mined, that Is, extractt'd, with thE' ~hal('. (Gulf Oil and Stand- ard Oil of Indiana In a prE'llminsf)' dE'\'elop- mE'nt plan for C.a said thE'Y may remo\'e 12,000 a('rt"-IeE't of water a )"E'ar from their 5,000 aerl's.1 T h f' Piceance Basin's watE'r table inevitabl\' will fall. Thl' basin is semi-arid. Ils ecosystem there- fore Is E'xtremely fragile and depends on springs to fE'E'd trickles in !'Orne gulchE's. The impart of thE' induslI)' on the basin's ground water can't be accuratE'ly aSSE'ssed at this time, But it, too, could bE' de\'astaling. John Ficke, sJX":lal studil'"s hydrologist for thE' U.S, Geological Sur...ey In Derl\"E'r, Is as E'xpert on th(' basin's potE'ntial watE'r problems as an}'unE', HE' said In a recent lnteT','I(>\\', "It the protot::.>pes are successful, there will bE' a lot of de-watering on the basin. On the order of 2S or 50 }'ears oil shalE' devl'lopmE'nt will E'limi- nate man::.' ~ pE'rhaps WE' might say most - of the springs in theba.ln." ThE' Interior DepnnmE'nt fiuggesled 35 sprinRs on C.a and 20 or more on Cob will be affected. The gulches thE'Y feed may fiubst'- quently df')' up and animals dE'pendent upon thE'm \\ill haw' to rT\O\.e on. And this falling ...."8tE'r table could affE'ct the basin's plant life too, The U.S. En\ironmentaI ProtE'ction A"eney warned in 11 ll'ttl'r to the In- tE'rior Department that a1tE'ring "hydrologic rE"- gime-s" In the hastn could result In "serious Jossl's ot forage and habitat tor wildlife." RAUl: :SATI\"E TROFT In Bnticlp.ation of massl\'E' de-watering, olfl. daIs of thE' state WildliIe Di\-\slon have contemplated transplanting MIme rare fiath-e trout and othE'r fish from strE'ams 00 the rim of the basin into bodies of water weU a.....a)' from thl'" possible h)'drologic changes. It this ecological calamity Is diUgE'ntly limited, how many animals "iU be displaced,? !\'o onE' knov..s. The nationally recognl1:ed InstitutE' of Ecolog}' In Wuhingtoo has pored o\'E'r the J,200-pagE' federal oil shale Impact (Coodlldf'd 00 pag~ :1) 0030