OCR Text |
Show western corner of Wyoming and northeastern cor- ner of Colorado are reported to have the largest reserves of oil shales in the country. Preliminary estimates indicate that by a retorting process a net water consumption for processing of about 170,000 acre-feet a year will be required to produce 500 million barrels of crude oil a year from oil shale.28 While this is not large, a much larger supply would be necessary for domestic and municipal uses in communities associated with this industrial development. Legal provisions already have been made for avoiding conflict among uses. Establishment of priority of use of Colorado River water for the mineral industry in relation to other uses is part of the Colorado River Compact. The reference articles are: Article II (h ) The term "domestic use" shall include the use of water for household stock, munici- pal, mining, milling, industrial, and other like purposes, but shall exclude the generation of electrical power. Article IV (a) Inasmuch as the Colorado River has ceased to be navigable for commerce and the reservation of its waters for navigation would seriously limit the development of the basin, the use of its waters for purposes of navigation shall be subservient to the uses of such waters for domestic, agricultural, and power pur- poses. (&} Subject to the provisions of this com- pact, water of the Colorado River system may be impounded and used for the generation of electrical power, but such impounding and use sliall be subservient to the use and con- sumption of such water for agricultural and domestic purposes and shall not interfere with or prevent use for such dominant purposes. (<?) The provisions of this article shall not apply to or interfere with the regulation and control by any State within its boundaries of the appropriation, use, and distribution «of water. State law further deals with priorities in use. Item IV (c) of the compact emphasizes the right of any basin State to regulate and control within 18 By the Union Oil Go. retorting process. Information from the Bureau of Mines. its boundaries the appropriation, use, and distribu- tion of water. Most basin States reaffirm in their law the priority of domestic (including industrial and mining) use over irrigation, in the event of competition not otherwise to be resolved. This may be considered in keeping with the national interest, as mineral de- posits of most kinds are much more limited in rela- tion to potential demand than agricultural land. Questions such as that of allocating water for oil shale processing, in the event it is needed, would be treated in the light of this consideration. How- ever, the relatively short-term nature of many min- ing works also must be taken into account when planning resource use for a balanced, stable, basin development. The possibilities of inundating important miner- alized areas in the basin are quite remote. In its studies to date the Bureau of Reclamation has en- countered only one instance where a potential reser- voir would adversely affect subsurface mineral resources. This is the Bardine Reservoir site in western Colorado, under which a deposit of coking coal lies at considerable depth. The site, however, has been eliminated from further consideration at present for that and other reasons. In other basin cases, present policies of the Department of the Interior require that there be sufficient geologic examination and exploration at reservoir sites to assure the recovery of any valuable minerals under the sites. Another illustration of the value of joint consid- eration of mining and water development is shown in studies by the Bureau of Mines and Bureau of Reclamation being conducted in the Park City and Alta zinc-lead-silver mining districts of Utah. Min- ing operations in these highly mineralized and at one time heavy producing districts have been seri- ously handicapped by flooding of shafts and tun- nels at levels beyond the economic limit of pumping. In some cases complete abandonment of otherwise attractive deposits has resulted. The Bureau of Reclamation is considering routing one tunnel for out-of-basin diversion of Colorado River water under these two districts. By means of crosses and raises, drainage of present workings could be main- tained, and thereby permit the recovery of zinc, lead, silver, and gold at even deeper levels than in the past. Conclusions Except for pollution by wastes, conflicts between mineral developments and irrigation or other uses 406 |