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<br />~ <br />-J <br />CJ <br />OJ <br /> <br />Whether an oil shale facility is intentionally seeking ground water as a <br /> <br />source of supply, or whether it must deal with excess ground water in the dewatering <br /> <br />of its mines or underground retorts, various legal factors will come into play. <br /> <br />Foremost among these is the fact that, under Colorado law, one who uses or <br /> <br />disrupts a ground water system which is tributary to (i.e., discharges to) a <br /> <br />natural surface stream must ensure that the rights of senior surface water <br /> <br />appropriators are not impaired. This means that use of the upper or lower <br /> <br />aquifer (since they are interconnected) will be contingent upon the implementation <br /> <br />of such steps as may be necessary to either sustain the historic flow of the <br /> <br />natural springs which discharge to Piceance and Yellow Creeks or to replace <br /> <br />any water removed from the surface stream system. <br /> <br />The monetary cost of obtaining enough ground water to cover a plant's <br /> <br />consumptive use will be a function of the cost of drilling and fitting wells <br /> <br />and of the cost of pumping water to the surface. It is roughly estimated that <br /> <br />such costs., on a capitalized basis, would be only 5 to 10 percent as large as <br /> <br />the estimated costs of developing surface supplies from the White and Colorado <br /> <br />rivers. Thus, an oil shale industry may find it to its financial advantage <br /> <br />to use ground water when possible. However, dewatering costs, replacement water <br /> <br />costs, and water treatment costs for excess water could also be significant. <br /> <br />Nonetheless, it is clear that the cost of ground water development may be <br /> <br />competitive with surface water development. <br /> <br />Uinta Basin, Utah. Apart from the Piceance Creek structural basin, little <br /> <br />is known of the ground water resources in the White River Basin of Colorado and <br /> <br />Utah except for the Uinta Basin, which is a large artesian basin in northeastern <br /> <br />Utah. <br /> <br />It e~tends from the Colorado border to the edge of the Great Basin near <br /> <br />Salt Lake City. <br /> <br />cxi <br />