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~ -J ~ ~ Availability of Ground Water for Emerging Energy Technologies At the present time, very, very little use is made of the Upper Basin's ground water resources. Furthermore, with a relatively few exceptions, (most notably for uranium mining in the New Mexico portion of the San Juan River Basin), projected non-EET uses are not expected to draw upon ground water over the next twenty years. Thus, ground water could, depending upon hydro- geologic and economic factors, be a potentially significant source of supply for EET developments, particularly in the three areas discussed below. Piceance Creek Structural Basin, Colorado.. The geologic unit known as the Piceance Creek structural basin is approximately coterminus with the surface drainage area of Yellow and Piceance Creeks in the White River Basin (Colorado) and Parachute Creeks in the Upper Colorado River Main Stem Basin (Colorado). Thus, it lies in the .heart of the richest oil shale deposits found in the Upper Basin. The Piceance Creek structural basin consists of two aquifers, both of which are under artesian conditions. They are separated by the Mahogany Zone, which is an interval of rich oil shale 100-200 feet thick. This confining zone is fractured in ways that are not yet completely understood, although it is clear that such fracturing generally permits the vertical movement of water between the lower and upper aquifers. Estimates of average annual discharge from and recharge to the aquifer system (the system is equilibrium) range from approximately 24,000 to 29,000 acre-feet. The source of recharge is primarily spring snowmelt. Discharge of ground water occurs primarily by evaporation and by seepage to springs and to streams in the Yellow and Piceance Creek surface drainage basins. Furthermore, discharge studies indicate that about 80 percent of the average annual yield of Piceance Creek comes from sprin~s. cix