Upper Colorado Region Comprehensive Framework Study: Appendix XI, Municipal and Industrial Water

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PART II PRESENT STATUS An estimated population of 75,200, or 22 percent of the Regional population including the hydrologic area of Arizona, was served by rural- domestic systems. Groundwater from individual wells was utilized to provide 90 percent of the rural-domestic supply. A large percentage of the Indian population in the Region were without adequate water supply facilities. Rural-domestic water supplies receive little or no treatment. Problems can arise in areas where there are concentrations of population using individual water supply systems and individual septic tank waste disposal systems. There are numerous rural communities in the Region with populations greater than 50 with no central municipal system where such problems could arise. There was insufficient data available to evaluate the adequacy of sources and the effects of water quality on self-supplied manufacturing, governmental and commercial establishments. Water quality problems caused by dissolved solids, heavy metals, temperature and sediment could involve significant treatment costs to prevent corrosion, scale formation, and process water damage. Livestock requirements are supplied primarily by surface water sources because groundwater sources are usually expensive to develop as well as being of generally poorer quality. Green River Subregion The 1965 Green River Subregion M&I withdrawal requirements supplied by various distribution systems are summarized in Table 12. Seventy-two percent of these requirements were supplied by surface water sources and the remainder by groundwater sources. 26