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~f1~- tain regulatory obligations, such as providing a surface-water-quality data base. Also, by compar- ing water-quality data obtained subsequent to the assessment with the assessment data, the coal- mine operators are able to determine the effects of their activities on surface-water qualit.y. Using the comparisons, the coal-mine operators are able to modify their activities, if needed, to minimize the effects of mining on surface-water quality. Regulatory agencies also are using both the surface-water-quality data provided by the coal companies and the assessment data to assess the impacts of mining on surface-water quality. As of 1980, projects to improve wastewater- treatment facilities. implemented under Section 208 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92-500), have been completed or are in progress at Steamboat Springs (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1977), at Oak Creek and at Hayden in Routt County, and at Craig in Moffat County (Norton, Underwood, and Lamb, Engineering Associates, 1978). Surface-water-quality data from the Yampa River basin assessment have been and are being used by planners and engineers associated with these projects to aid in the design of the wastewater-treatment facilities. The data also are being used to anticipate impacts of effluent dis- charged from the plants. Model results of the potential effects of the wastewater-treatment plant at Steamboat Springs (Bauer and others, 1978) in- dicated that certain standards for effluent did not need to be as stringent as originally proposed in order to meet specified water-quality goals, As a result. local governments modified the standards for effluent, which may have resulted in substan- tial cost savings for the project. Surface-water-quality data also were used in the planning and feasibility reports prepared for a reservoir in Routt County (Woodard-Clyde Con- sultants, 1977). The data were used to establish water-quality characteristics prior to reservoir con- struction and to anticipate possible impacts of the reservoir on water quality in the Yampa River. Results from both the waste-load assimilative- capacity analysis of the Yampa River (Bauer and others. 1978) and the reservoir-development analysis (D, B. Adams. D. P. Bauer, R. H. Dale, and T. D. Steele, written commun., 1978) have been used by local officials to determine the effects of augmenting minimum streamflow by reservoir releases. On the basis of these results. local officials have concluded that selected ambient water- quality characteristics may be improved by flow augmentation and that the impact of pollutants discharged to streams downstream from reservoirs can be reduced by flow augmentation. Another aspect of the use of data from the Yampa River basin assessment involved the North West Colorado Council of Governments, a local multicounty governmental agency, that received funds under Section 208 of the Federal Water Pol- lution Control Amendments Act of 1972 (Public Law 92-500) to develop an area-wide water-quali- ty-management plan. As stipulated in Section 208 of Public Law 92-500, the North West Colorado Council of Governments is to identify surface- water-quality problems within the six-county area it represents and is to implement measures to eliminate existing problems and prevent future problems. AI; the goal of identifying existing water- quality problems was similar to that of the Yampa River basin assessment, cooperative program ef- forts were modified by the U.S. Geological Survey to fulfill the Section-2OO requirements for water- quality information from Routt County (U.S. Geological Survey. 1976). As a result, data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey were suitable for use by the North West Colorado Coun- cil of Governments in its Section-208 planning endeavor (Britton, 1979), Thus. the two agencies were able to minimize duplication of effort by coor- dinating desired study products. In summary, local officials are using data and in- formation from several studies conducted during the Yampa River basin assessment. Information from this and related projects has allowed officials and managers to fulfill regulatory obligations and to predict some of the effects of planned develop- ment on the water resources of the region. Moreover, an attempt has been made to present the resultant information in a form that is under- standable and applicable to regional problems. Technical studies in other energy-developing regions might well apply the reporting format used by this basin assessment. Information surveys conducted in the future will be the best judge of the extent to which attempts at communicating technical information have been successful and will indicate better ways to provide information for decision making. 13