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GA-8 <br />• one-million-barrel-per-day oil shale industry, the water demand <br />would be equivalent to 141,000 acre-feet/year. <br />Oil shale development in Colorado has been largely confined to <br />research and pilot-scale operations. Consequently, it is uncertain <br />as to when or how much water will be required for a synfuels <br />industry in the Piceance Creek Basin. <br />GA.2.5 Existing Discharges <br />A review of existing information on permitted surface water <br />releases in the Yellow Creek drainage basin indicates only two <br />companies with authorization to discharge. Rio Blanco Oil Shale <br />Company and NaTec Minerals, Inc. have been permitted to discharge <br />to surface drainages. Table GA-2 provides some brief information <br />on these permitted discharges. <br />• GA.2.6 Surface Water Oualitv <br />Water quality in the Yellow Creek drainage can be classified as <br />mixed bicarbonate type in the upper reaches and sodium bicarbonate <br />type in the lower reaches. Generally, total dissolved solids range <br />from 150 mg/1 in the upper reaches of Stake Springs draw to more <br />than 2,800 mg/1 at the mouth of Yellow Creek. Figure GA-3 depicts <br />the change in water quality from upstream areas to downstream <br />reaches in the Yellow Creek drainage. <br />Irrigation return flows, evapotranspiration and groundwater <br />discharge from the Uinta and Green River Formations are the main <br />cause of the water quality degradation in Yellow Creek. However, <br />due to the low acreage irrigated in Yellow Creek, it is believed <br />that irrigation return flows have only a small effect. As is <br />typical, water quality varies substantially with streamflow. <br />During high runoff periods (snowmelt) TDS concentrations are <br />. typically at their lowest levels. <br /> <br />