UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WYOMING GEOLOGICAL SURVEY COLORADO THE YAMPA RIVER BASIN, COLORADO AND WYOMING- A PREVIEW TO EXPANDED COAL-RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPACTS ON REGIONAL WATER RESOURCES ^'^v^bSvi'--" WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS 78-126 BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA 1. Report No. 2. 3. Recipient's Accession No. SHEET 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date THE YAMPA RIVER BASIN, COLORADO AND WYOMING A PREVIEW TO September 1979 EXPANDED COAL-RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPACTS ON 6. REGIONAL WATER RESOURCES 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Rept. T. D. Steele, D. P. Bauer, D. A. Wentz, and J. W. Warner No- USGS/WRI 78-12 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Project/Task/Work Unit No. U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division Box 250^6, Denver Federal Center, Mail Stop *H5 11. Contract/Grant No. Lakewood, CO 80225 12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address 13. Type of Report & Period U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division Covered Box 250^6, Denver Federal Center, Mail Stop ^15 Final Lakewood, CO 80225 14. 15. Supplementary Notes 16. Abstracts Expanded coal production and conversion in the Yampa River basin, Colorado and Wyoming, may have substantial impacts on water resources, environmental amenities, and socioeconomic conditions. Preliminary results of a 3-year basin assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey are given for evaluation of surface- and ground-water resources using available data, modeling analysis of waste-load capacity of a Yampa River reach affected by municipal wastewater-treatment plant effluents, and semiquantitative descriptions of ambient air and water-quality conditions. Aspects discussed are possible constraints on proposed development due to basin compacts and laws regulating water resources, possible change; in environmental-control regulations, and policies on energy-resource leasing and land use that will influence regional economic development. 17. Key Words and Document Analysis. 17o. Descriptors Water resources, Regional development, Planning, Energy conversion, Coal-mine wastes, Environmental effects, Water-supply decision making, Water quality, Systems analysis, Water rights, Water demand, River-basin development, Public lands, Land use, Colorado, Wyoming, Data collection I7b. Identifiers/Open-Ended Terms Yampa River basin (Colorado-Wyoming), Residuals management 17c. COSATI Field'Group 18. Availability Statement 19. Security Class (This 21. No. of Pages Report) _____UNCLASSIFIED No restriction on distribution 20. Security Class (This 22. Price Page UNCLASSIFIED THE YAMPA RIVER BASIN, COLORADO AND WYOMING A PREVIEW TO EXPANDED COAL-RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPACTS ON REGIONAL WATER RESOURCES By Timothy Doak Steele, Daniel P. Bauer, Dennis A. Wentz, and James W. Warner U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations 78-126 Lakewood, Colorado September 1979 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR CECIL D. ANDRUS, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY H. William Menard, Director For additional information, write to: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey Box 25046, Mail Stop k\S Denver Federal Center Denver, CO 80225 FOREWORD A major concern of the American public is the enhancement and protection of the environment at minimal social costs, particularly with respect to development and utilization of the Nation's energy resources. The substantial investments made over recent years to protect and to improve air and water quality are being evaluated critically for effectiveness and social desirability. A review of existing and pending legislation which establishes acceptable national goals for environmental protection (including air- and water-quality standards, and land-use planning) is being conducted with the intent of setting more realistic goals in response to changing policies on economic development and energy consumption. The Yampa River basin assessment is one of a series of multidisciplinary studies supported by the U.S. Geological Survey. Each study has considered unique circumstances regarding the physical setting and forms of economic development affecting the environment. In the case of the Yampa River basin, coal resources, population growth, limited water availability, and associated economic development pose as potential problems affecting existing conditions and lifestyle in the region. These studies will help to determine the types and forms of hydrologic, geologic, and other information useful to decision- making administrators in their analyses of policies affecting development and use of natural resources. Decisions affecting energy-resource development need to consider the environmental and economic impacts of such development. Expanded energy- resource development will lead to increased generation and discharge of residual waste materials to the land, surface and ground waters, and the air. Through modification or treatment, some residuals may be converted to commercial products of economic value. Discharged residuals generally will have an impact on environmental quality. Any plan to modify or reduce these discharges may affect the basin's water resources in terms of water withdrawals, water consumption, and assimilative capacity. Planning for the development and management of the natural resources of the Yampa River basin needs to be conducted in the context of the uncertainties associated with a range of possible development alternatives and the effects of each in terms of water use and discharge of residuals. This report describes the environmental setting of the Yampa River basin and documents various alternative proposals for energy-resource development in the basin, primarily in terms of increased mining and conversion of near- surface coal. The approaches to ongoing data collection and investigative studies initiated under the assessment-project design will be summarized in this report. Specific study results are discussed in more technical detail in other reports. The intended audience of this report includes those regional and basin planners and managers, working in areas of expanding energy development, who are concerned with water use and environmental impacts. J. S. Cragwal1, Jr. Chief Hydrologist Ml PREFACE "* * * communication to the public and its representatives of knowledge of alternative opportunities for water management and use will result in more rational decisions." National Academy of Sciences, 1968, p. Si CONTENTS Page Foreword. ............................... Ill Preface ................................ V Metric conversion table ........................ X Abstract. ............................... 1 Introduction. ............................. 1 Assessment objectives. ...................... 2 Regional setting ......................... 3 Coordination with related studies. ................ 5 River-basin assessments ................... 5 Other studies in the Yampa River basin. ........... 6 Project phases and approach. ................... 7 Acknowledgments. ......................... 9 Energy-resource development ...................... 9 Physiographic provinces. ..................... 10 Geology. ............................. 12 Mineral resources. ........................ 19 Mineral-rights ownership ..................... 22 Geothermal energy. ........................ 22 Oil and gas. ........................... 23 Coal mining. ........................... 25 Coal utilization and alternative development plans ........ 33 Evaluation of the basin's existing water resources. .......... 38 Cl imatic conditions. ....................... 39 Surface water. .......................... 43 Stream quality .......................... 58 Stream temperature. ..................... 60 Suspended sediment. ..................... 66 Major inorganic constituents. ................ 67 Trace elements and pH .................... 72 Nutrients, dissolved oxygen, and aquatic biology. ...... 79 Ambient stream quality. ................... 81 Waste-load assimilative capacity of the Yampa River ..... 81 Ground water ........................... 90 Ground-water quality ....................... 97 Water law and legal compacts ................... 100 Water law in Colorado .................... 100 Water law in Wyoming. .................... 101 Legal compacts. ....................... 104 Proposed water-development projects. ............... 105 Water use. ............................ 108 Indirect effects of energy development. ................ 111 Population, employment, and services ............... 111 Land use and ownership ...................... 113 Air quality. ........................... 116 Regional economic activity .................... 118 Environmental aspects being studied .................. 119 Environmental-control legislation uncertainties. ......... 119 Policy uncertainties relating to energy and water development. 121 Phase-11 investigations. ..................... 121 VI CONTENTS Page Summary. ................................ 123 References cited ............................ 126 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Map showing location of the Yampa River basin east of Dino­ saur National Monument, Colorado and Wyoming. ....... k 2. Flow diagram for regional assessments ............ 8 3. Map showing major structural units and physiographic features 11 k. Map showing generalized geology ............... 13 5. Sketches of geologic sections through the Yampa River basin . 18 6. Map showing structure contours on top of the Mesaverde Group. 20 7. Map showing principal areas of energy and mineral resources . 21 8. Graph showing annual coal production, 1908-77
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