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Water Resources and Potential 

Hydrologic Effects of Oil-Shale 

Development in the Southeastern 

Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado

By K. L. LINDSKOV and B. A. KIMBALL

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1307

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1984
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

WILLIAM P. CLARK, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Lindskov, K. L.

Water resources and potential hydrologic effects of oil-shale development in the southeastern Uinta 

Basin, Utah and Colorado.

(Geological Survey professional paper; 1307)

Bibliography: 32 p.

1. Oil-shale industry Environmental aspects Uinta Basin (Utah and Colo.) 2. Watersupply Uinta Basin (Utah and Colo.) 3. Hydrology Uinta Basin (Utah and Colo.) I. Kimball, 

Briant A. II. Title. III. Series.

TD195.04L56 1984 338.4*76654 83-600313

For sale by the Branch of Distribution, U.S. Geological Survey, 

604 South Picket! Street, Alexandria, VA 22304
CONTENTS

Abstract

Introduction - 

Purpose and scope ------------------------------

Geographic, geologic, and hydrologic settingPrevious investigations -

The hydrologic system 

Major rivers --- 

Intra area 

Precipitation 

Surface-water runoff 

Ground water --------------------------

Evapotranspiration 

Summary of intra-area water budget

Water requirements for an oil-shale industry - 

Aboveground processes ------------ ------

In situ processes 

Total requirements 

Selected sources ofc water supply for an oil-shale industry 

White River 

Natural flow 

Page 

1

1

1

4

9

9

9

9

10

10

17

19

20

20

20

20

22

22

22

Selected sources of water supply for an oil-shale industry 

Continued

White River Continued

Regulated flow - 

White River Dam - 

Off-stream storage in Hells Hole Canyon----------

Green River---------------------------- ---------------------

Ground water -

Potential impacts of an oil-shale industry on water resources --

Water supply ---------------------------------------------------

Water quality---------------------------------- --- --------

Sediment 

Potential effects of the White River Dam -----

Potential effects of oil-shale processing facilities - 

Dissolved constituents 

Dissolved solids ----- ---------------------- -

Total organic carbon 

Major solutes 

Nutrients--------------------- ---------------------

Trace elements ----------------------------- -----

Summary 

References cited 

Page

22

22

23

23

23

24

27

27

27

27

27

28

28

28

28

29

30

30

30

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page 

FIGURES 1-4. Maps showing:

1. Location of study area within the Upper Colorado River Basin -------------------------------------------- ------------ 2

2. Geographic features------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------- --- ---------------- 3

3. Land ownership 5

4. Lands for which Utah is seeking ownership 6

5. Schematic stratigraphic section of the formations of early Tertiary age 7

6. Graph showing magnitude and frequency of annual precipitation at Bonanza, Utah 10

7. Graphs showing seasonal variations in precipitation at four representative sites, 1941-70----- -------------- --- - ----- 11

8. Map showing average annual runoff 12

9. Graphs showing annual runoff at two gaging stations -------------------- . ... ... 13

10. Graphs showing average, maximum, and minimum monthly mean runoff at two gaging stations - -- -- ----------- - 14

11-14. Maps showing:

11. General quality of surface water -------------------------------------------- --- - -- - --- -- ------ 15

12. General quality of water in alluvial aquifers * 16

13. General quality of water in the bird's-nest aquifer in the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation 17

14. General quality of water in the Douglas Creek aquifer --------------------------- -- ig

15. Graph showing annual precipitation and potential evapotranspiration at Fort Duchesne, Utah, 1943-75 19

16. Map showing proposed areas of oil-shale mining (1981) ------------ --------------------- - - -- 21

17. Graph showing magnitude and frequency of annual low flows at station 09306500, White River near Watson --------- -- - 23

18. Graph of daily-duration hydrographs for indicated percentage of time flow at station 09306500, White River near Watson, was

equal to or greater than that shown ------------------------------------- -- ----------- - -- . 24

19. Map showing location of proposed projects that may be associated with an oil-shale industry ------------- --- --- --- - 25

20. Map showing approximate areal extent used in determination of maximum annual yields from the consolidated-rock aquifers 26
IV CONTENTS

TABLES

Page

TABLE 1. Summary of water requirements for a 100,000-barrel-per-day oil-shale mine with retorting above ground 20

2. Summary of water requirements for a 100,000-barrel-per-day oil-shale mine with retorting by the Occidental modified in situ

process 20

3. Comparison of mean chemical composition of four retort waters with natural waters in the southeastern Uinta Basin - 29

CONVERSION FACTORS

Most values in this report are given in inch-pound units. For those readers who may prefer to use metric units rather than inch-pound units, the conversion factors for the terms used in the report are listed below. The conversion 

factors are shown to four significant figures.

Multiply

Acre

Acre-foot

Acre-foot per square mile

Acre-foot per year

Barrel

Barrel per day

Cubic foot per second

Foot

Foot per mile

Gallon

Gallon per minute

Inch

Inch per hour

Mile

Square mile

Ton per acre per hour

Ton per day

By

0.4047

0.004047

0.001233

1233

476.1

0.001233

0.1590

159.0

0.02832

0.3048

0.1894

3.785

0.06309

25.40

2.540

25.40

1.609

2.590

2.242

0.9072

To obtain

Square hectometer

Square kilometer

Cubic hectometer

Cubic meter

Cubic meter per square kilometer

Cubic hectometer per year

Cubic meter

Liter per day

Cubic meter per second

Meter

Meter per kilometer

Liter

Liter per second

Millimeter

Centimeter

Millimeter per hour

Kilometer

Square kilometer

Metric ton per square hectometer per hour

Metric ton per day

Chemical concentration and water temperature are given only in metric units. Chemical concentration is given in 

milligrams per liter or micrograms per liter. Milligrams per liter is a unit expressing the solute per unit volume (liter) 

of water. One thousand micrograms per liter is equivalent to 1 milligram per liter. For concentrations less than 7,000 

milligrams per liter, the numerical value is about the same as for concentrations in parts per million.

Water temperature is given in degrees Celsius (°C), which can be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) by the following equation: °F=1.8(°C)H-32.

A barrel is equal to 42 gallons of oil.
WATER RESOURCES AND POTENTIAL HYDROLOGIC EFFECTS

OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTHEASTERN

UINTA BASIN, UTAH AND COLORADO

By K. L. LiNDSKOvand B. A. KIMBALL

ABSTRACT

Proposed oil-shale mining in northeastern Utah is expected to impact the water resources of a 3,000-square-mile area. This report 

summarizes a comprehensive hydrologic investigation of the area 

which resulted in 13 published reports. Hydrologic information obtained during 1974-80 was used to evaluate the availability of water and 

to evaluate potential impacts of an oil-shale industry on the water resources.

The study area is the southeastern part of the Uinta Basin, Utah 

and Colorado, where the hydrology is extremely variable. The normal 

annual precipitation averages 11 inches and varies with altitude. It 

ranges from less than 8 inches at altitudes below 5,000 feet along the 

White and Green Rivers to more than 20 inches where altitudes exceed 

9,000 feet on the Roan Plateau.

The White and Green Rivers are large streams that flow through the 

area. They convey an average flow of 4.3 million acre-feet per year from 

outside drainage areas of about 34,000 square miles, which is more than 

150 times as much flow as that originating within the area. Streams 

originating in areas where precipitation is less than 10 inches are 

ephemeral. Mean annual runoff from the study area is about 28,000 

acre-feet and ranges from less than 0.1 to 1.6 inches, depending on the 

location. At any given site, runoff varies greatly-from year to year and 

season to season. Potential evapotranspiration is large, exceeding precipitation in all years.

Three major aquifers occur in the area. They are alluvial deposits of 

small areal extent along the major stream valleys; the bird's-nest aquifer of the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation, 

which is limited to the central part of the study area; and the Douglas 

Creek aquifer of the Douglas Creek Member of the Green River Formation, which underlies most of the area. Total recoverable water in storage in the three aquifers is about 18 million acre-feet. Yields of 

individual wells and interference between wells limit the maximum 

practical withdrawal to about 20,000 acre-feet per year.

An oil-shale industry in the southeastern Uinta Basin with a peak 

production of 400,000 barrels of oil per day would require a water 

supply of about 70,000 acre-feet per year. Sources of water supply considered for such an industry were: diversion from the natural flow of 

the White River, a proposed reservoir on the White River, diversion 

from the White River combined with proposed off-stream storage in 

Hells Hole Canyon, diversion from the Green River, and conjunctive 

use of ground and surface water.

The proposed reservoir on the White River would trap about 90 percent of the sediment moving in the river and in turn would release 

almost sediment-free water. Possible impacts are changes in channel 

gradient in the downstream 18 miles of the White River and changes in 

bank stability. In some parts of the area, annual sheet-erosion rates are 

as great as 2.2 acre-feet per square mile but sediment yield to the White 

River is less than might be expected because the runoff is small. If process water from retort operations or water used in the construction of

surface facilities is discharged into a normally dry streambed, increased 

channel erosion and sediment in tributary streams could result in increased sediment loads in the White River. In addition, sediment yields 

from retorted-shale piles with minimum slopes could exceed 0.1 acrefoot per square mile during a common storm. Thus, without safeguards, 

the useful life of any proposed reservoir or holding pond could be decreased considerably.

Leachate water from retorted-shale piles has large concentrations of 

sodium and sulfate, and the chemical composition of retort waters differs considerably from that of the natural waters of the area. The retort 

waters contain a greater concentration of dissolved solids and more organic carbon and nutrients. Without proper disposal or impoundment 

of retort and leachate waters, the salinity of downstream waters in the 

Colorado River Basin would be increased.

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE AND SCOPE

The dependence of the United States on imported petroleum supplies has focused attention on oil-shale 

deposits in the Upper Colorado River Basin in the western part of the country. Most of the Nation's high-grade 

deposits of oil shale are in the Green River Formation of 

Tertiary age in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming (fig. 1). 

Large-scale mining and processing of the oil shale could 

produce oil that would be an alternative to help meet the 

Nation's energy needs. A large-scale oil-shale industry, 

however, would have considerable impact on the area's 

water resources.

This report summarizes the results of a comprehensive 

hydrologic investigation of a 3,000-square-mile area of 

the southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado (fig. 

2), an area containing extensive thick deposits of oil 

shale. Hydrologic information obtained during the study 

is used to evaluate the availability of water for an oilshale industry and to evaluate potential impacts of an 

oil-shale industry on the area's water resources. Information obtained during the investigation included data for 

ground water, streams, climate, channel migration, vegetation, and geology in relation to spring discharge. The 

data and interpretations were published in 13 reports,
WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

113° 112° 111° 110° 109° 108° 107° 106° 105°

Great 

Divide

Washakie Basin

I,

Green River Basin

Sand Wash 

Basin

EXPLANATION

GREEN RIVER FORMATION CONTAINING 

OIL SHALE

GREEN RIVER FORMATION CONTAINING 

SHALE 10 OR MORE FEET THICK, 

AVERAGING 25 OP MORE GALLONS 

OF OIL PER TON

NEW-"MEXICO

FEDERAL LEASE TRACTS

C-a

C-b

U-a

U-b 

BOUNDARY OF STUDY AREA

35° \~

FIGURE 1. Location of study area within the Upper Colorado River Basin. Boundaries of structural basins within the region

from U.S. Department of the Interior (1979, p. 17).
now

INTRODUCTION

109°30' 1D9°00'

30'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado, 1968 

and Utah, 1959, 1:500,000, State bases

30 MILES

\ 

30 KILOMETERS

 fciir~";5~-vn '"H i

UTAH

FIGURE 2. Geographic features.
WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

which are identified by asterisks in the references cited 

at the end of this report.

The investigation began in October 1974, and from 1 

to 6 years of stream, climate, and ground-water data were 

obtained at many sites. Included were: (1) Streams 30 

gaging stations for continuous records of flow and 

monthly-to-quarterly water-quality sampling, 12 of the 

gaging stations for biological sampling, 19 partial-record 

stations for monthly measurements of flow and waterquality sampling, 7 of the gaging stations for continuous 

records of sediment discharge, miscellaneous sediment 

data at other stations, and 7 of the gaging stations for 

continuous records of specific conductance and water 

temperature; (2) climate 21 sites for monthly and annual precipitation totals, 13 sites for precipitation intensity, 27 sites for snow depth, 3 snow courses, 7 sites 

for air temperature, 2 sites for relative humidity, and 1 

site for pan evaporation; and (3) ground water 6 sites 

for monthly and 39 sites for quarterly measurements of 

water levels, discharge, water temperature, and specific 

conductance of water; 59 sites for annual water-quality 

sampling; and 40 sites for measuring soil-moisture content. In addition, there were 32 hillslope transects for 

measurement of erosion and 6 channel cross sections for 

measurement of scour and fill. Six test holes were completed in the consolidated rocks, with depths ranging 

from 800 to 3,000 feet.

Data obtained during October 1974 to September 1978 

were published in Conroy and Fields (1977) and Conroy 

(1979, 1980). Data obtained since September 1978 appear in annual releases entitled "Water Resources Data 

for Utah" (U.S. Geological Survey, 1980-82). Results of 

drilling and testing are given in Holmes (1980); and results of all interpretive work appear in Butler and England (1979), Holmes (1979), Holmes and Kimball 

(1983), Jurado and Fields (1978), Kimball (1981), Lindskov and Kimball (1982), Naten and Fuller (1981), Seiler 

and Tooley (1982), and Waltemeyer (1982).

GEOGRAPHIC, GEOLOGIC, AND HYDROLOGIC 

SETTING

The study area is about 3,000 square miles in the 

southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado (fig. 2). 

Included are areas that drain to the reach of the White 

River between a point about 15 miles downstream of 

Rangely, Colo., to its confluence with the Green River 

near Ouray, Utah. Also included are most areas draining 

directly to the Green River from a point near Ouray 

downstream through Desolation Canyon. All drainage is 

ultimately to the Green River, which is the largest tributary of the Colorado River.

About 56 percent of the land in the study area is 

owned or administered by the Federal Government, 24 

percent is in Indian trust, about 10 percent is State 

owned, and less than 10 percent is privately owned (fig. 

3). Utah is seeking ownership of an additional 240 sections in the area (fig. 4) to offset lands (school sections) 

throughout the State that were originally designated for 

State ownership but not yet transferred from Federal 

ownership. Ownership of minerals commonly is different 

from ownership of the surface rights, but there is no attempt to portray mineral ownership in figure 3.

The study area is in the Colorado Plateaus physiographic province (Fenneman, 1946). Most of the larger 

streams originate on the Roan Plateau at altitudes greater than 8,000 feet above sea level1 and flow northward 

where they join with the White and Green Rivers at altitudes less than 5,000 feet. The streams originating in 

the study area are called intra-area streams in this report. Evacuation, Bitter, Hill, and Willow Creeks and 

Coyote Wash are examples of the major intra-area 

streams. Much of the variation in annual precipitation 

and resulting runoff in the study area are explained by 

variation in altitudes (Waltemeyer, 1982, p. 17, 18, fig. 8; 

Lindskov and Kimball, 1982, p. 41, fig. 12). Intra-area 

streamflow typically is perennial in the higher altitudes 

of the Roan Plateau, where annual precipitation may exceed 20 inches. As these streams flow through deeply incised canyons they become intermittent and ultimately 

ephemeral as they cross areas receiving less than 10 

inches of precipitation annually.

About 52 percent of the study area drains to the White 

River, and the remaining 48 percent drains directly to 

the Green River. The long-term mean flow of the White 

River at the Colorado-Utah State line is about 700 cubic 

feet per second. The intra-area streams contribute only 

about 7 cubic feet per second to the White River, which 

is only 1 percent of the mean flow of the river and generally is less than evapotranspiration losses along the valley alluvium. The White River has no net gain in flow as 

it meanders between the State line and its confluence 

with the Green River near Ouray. The combined flow of 

the White, Duchesne, and Green Rivers near Ouray 

(draining about 34,000 square miles) averages about 

5,900 cubic feet per second (4.3 million acre-feet per 

year) (Lindskov and Kimball, 1982, p. 32).

The chemical quality of the water in the southeastern 

Uinta Basin is strongly influenced by geology. During the 

Eocene Epoch a large lake, named Lake Uinta by Bradley (1930, p. 88), occupied much of the area in the Piceance and Uinta Basins. The lake varied greatly in size

1The datum used in this report is the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD of 

1929), a geodetic datum derived from a general adjustment of the first-order level nets of both 

the United States and Canada, formerly called mean sea level. NGVD of 1929 is referred to as 

sea level in this report.
INTRODUCTION

110°00' 109°00'

- I x I

v..!

J j COLORADO 

Qf { RATIONAL

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado, 1968 

and Utah, 1959, 1:500,000, State bases

30 MILES

i

30 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

LAND OWNERSHIP STATUS

FEDERAL Not separated from 

State lands in Colorado

INDIAN

STATE Included with Federal 

lands in Colorado

PRIVATE

FIGURE 3. Land ownership. (Adapted from 1:500,000 scale land-status maps of Utah and Colorado prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Land 

Management, 1977,1972.) Land status shown is generalized. Consult Land Office records for exact status of Public Domain.
WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

110W 109°30' 109°00'

30'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado, 1968 

and Utah, 1959, 1:500,000, State bases

30 MILES

I

20 30 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

LANDS FOR WHICH UTAH IS 

SEEKING OWNERSHIP

FIGURE 4. Lands for which Utah is seeking ownership. (Adapted from a map provided by Gale Prince of the Utah State Lands Division

in 1979.)
INTRODUCTION

and salinity, and the sediments deposited in the lake 

were consolidated to form rocks that are known as the 

Green River Formation. Intertonguing with the lacustrine sediments of the Green River Formation are the 

overlying Uinta Formation and the underlying Wasatch 

Formation, both of lacustrine origin and of Tertiary age. 

The relations between these formations (fig. 5) are described in detail by Cashion (1967 and 1973) and 

Cashion and Donnell (1974). Only those aspects that

pertain to the effects on water resources are discussed 

here.

The Wasatch Formation underlies the Green River 

Formation and commonly intertongues with the Douglas 

Creek Member of the Green River Formation. The Wasatch is exposed around the margins of the area on the 

west, south, and east, and in the upper reaches of deep 

canyons. Cashion (1967, p. 6) has given the name Renegade Tongue to the intertonguing part of the Wasatch

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WASATCH (COLTON) 

FORMATION

THICKNESS

(feet)

0 -4,900

490 - 1,200

0 -240

200 - 980

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0-330

980 - 3,940

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DESCRIPTION

Brown, red, and green sandstone and siltstone. 

Fluvial deposits.

Thin beds of tan to light brown calcareous siltstone

and sandstone. Nearshore to open lacustrine

deposits. Some saline beds near top. Contains the

bird's-nest aquifer.

 Horse Bench Sandstone Bed 

Principal oil-shale member. Mud-supported carbonate and calcareous claystone. Colors are medium

to dark brown. Open lacustrine deposits. Beds

laterally continuous.

Locally present. Similar to Parachute Creek 

Member.

Douglas Creek Member:

Marginal lacustrine deposits of white sandstone and

siltstone, light to medium gray to green claystone

and mixed mud- to grain-supported carbonate.

Ostracodes and mollusks are common in calcareous

claystones and In carbonates. Channel-form sandstone is common to all tongues.

Renegade Tongue: 

Red, purple, and green claystone, and green and

red clayey sandstone and siltstone beds. Massive

channel-form sandstone common. Fluvial deposits.

Both units contain the Douglas Creek aquifer.

Similar to Renegade Tongue

FIGURE 5. Schematic stratigraphic section of the formations of early Tertiary age. Thickness data from Cashion

(1967).
WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

Formation. The Renegade Tongue is part of the Douglas 

Creek aquifer as described by Holmes and Kimball 

(1983). Exposures of the Renegade Tongue contain claystone, siltstone, and massive channel sandstone.

The Green River Formation crops out in much of the 

study area, and the entire formation is exposed from 

south to north. The Douglas Creek Member is the principal unit cropping out in the Roan Cliffs as well as in 

the eastern one-half of the area. To the west, the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation is 

exposed.

The Douglas Creek Member in the outcrop area consists of lacustrine and fluvial sandstone, siltstone, and 

claystone. Sandstone in this member increases to the 

south, and it commonly forms steep slopes and cliffs. 

The Garden Gulch Member of the Green River Formation locally is present in the northeast part of the area 

and is similar to the Parachute Creek Member. The Parachute Creek Member is mostly calcareous siltstone and 

claystone (marlstone). It contains oil-shale beds of commercial value, most notably the Mahogany oil-shale bed.

Weathering products from the Green River Formation 

are rich in clays. These are principally illite and mixedlayer illite-smectite clays, which are original constituents 

of the rocks and also products of weathering reactions. 

Alluvium in the canyons contains these clays along with 

variable-sized material derived from mechanical weathering.

A diverse mineralogy has been described for the Green 

River Formation (Milton and Eugster, 1959; Brobst and 

Tucker, 1973; Dyni, 1976). The minerals provide many 

possible sources of dissolved solids (including trace elements) in the natural waters of the area; however, most 

of the major solutes in streams are derived from only a 

few major minerals (Kimball, 1981, p. 9-13). The trace 

elements dissolved in the waters of the area generally are 

released by reactions between the water and the siltstone 

and claystone, particularly from the oil-shale beds. Desborough and others (1976) have described the abundance 

and mineralogical residence of many trace elements and 

major elements in the area.

The Uinta Formation, which conformably overlies the 

Green River Formation, consists of three "horizons" 

(Cashion, 1967, p. 19-21). Horizon A, which is the 

lowest, consists mostly of a sandstone and claystone sequence which crops out along the White River. Horizons 

B and C are exposed north of the White River. Horizon 

C weathers to a badlands topography and contains much 

expandable clay. The erosion of the badlands provides 

abundant suspended sediment to Coyote Wash, and in 

times of high flow in the wash, this sediment reaches the 

White River.

Movement of surface and ground water generally is

northward from the areas along the Roan Plateau that 

receive the most precipitation. Streamflow diminishes 

significantly while flowing northward as evapotranspiration returns a large part of the water to the atmosphere. 

This process concentrates minerals that had been dissolved from the rocks over and through which the water 

had moved. Mining, retorting, and waste disposal of oil 

shale that contains saline minerals could possibly degrade the existing quality of the surface and ground water. In some areas, the surface and ground water are 

already saline (dissolved solids exceeding 10,000 milligrams per liter) and have appreciable concentrations of 

fluoride, boron, and sulfate. Thus, freshwater supplies 

need to be protected from degradation.

Trace metals, which are leached from the soils and 

rocks, become sorbed on the suspended sediment and bed 

material in the streams. The mining and processing of 

rock to obtain shale oil will increase the quantity of rock 

exposed for leaching. Without proper safeguards, traceelement transport and availability could increase beyond 

natural levels and pose a health hazard.

Vegetation is sparse because a large part of the area is 

arid. The barren land is severely eroded during summer 

thunderstorms and during years of above normal precipitation. A large part of the area is dissected hills and valleys, with some badlands, and source-area sediment 

yields can exceed 2 acre-feet per square mile per year. 

Erosion and transport of sediment at each mining site 

could result in a major water-quality problem unless topography, soils, and climate are adequately considered. 

Uncontrolled erosion rates resulting from active surface 

mining possibly could be 10 times greater (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1979, p. 34) than under natural conditions.

PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS

Woolley (1930) and Thomas (1952) described the hydrology of the Green River, including the reach that 

passes through the area of this investigation. Considerable hydrologic information for the general area is 

available in comprehensive studies of the water resources 

of the Upper Colorado River Basin by lorns and others 

(1964 and 1965) and Price and Arnow (1974). Feltis 

(1966) compiled some information about the availability 

and chemical quality of ground water and briefly described the water-bearing properties of some of the geologic units in the Uinta Basin. Weir (1970) compiled 

considerable geohydrologic data obtained from an exploration well drilled in Uintah County. The U.S. Bureau of 

Reclamation (1974) identified specific alternative 

sources of water for use in oil-shale development on pro-
THE HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM

totype areas, including tracts Ua and Ub near Bonanza, 

Utah (fig. 1).

Price and Miller (1975) reported the findings of a hydrologic reconnaissance of the southern Uinta Basin, 

including about 10,000 square miles that is south of the 

Strawberry, Duchesne, and White Rivers in Utah and 

Colorado. Their study included the area of investigation 

for this study, with the exception of the area draining to 

the White River from the north (fig. 2). That drainage 

was included in a hydrologic reconnaissance of the 

northern Uinta Basin reported on by Hood and Fields 

(1978).

In addition to the work mentioned above, oil companies have been involved in considerable data collection 

and analysis and premining studies, mostly in small 

areas. The White River Shale Project (VTN, Colorado, 

Inc., 1977) completed a report that presented the results 

of 2 years of premining data collection and analysis on 

Federal Lease Tracts Ua and Ub, each of which has an 

area of 8 square miles. The TOSCO Corp. and Geokinetics, Inc. are presently (1982) involved in premining 

data collection and analysis for small parts of the study 

area in the Sand Wash and Bitter Creek drainages and 

the Bitter and Willow Creek drainages, respectively. The 

hydrologic information obtained by the oil companies is 

valuable for evaluating impacts at the appropriate site 

and may be useful for estimating hydrologic characteristics at other sites.

THE HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM

MAJOR RIVERS

The Duchesne, Green and White Rivers convey water 

from a total of 34,000 square miles into the study area. 

The total average flow of these rivers is about 5,900 cubic 

feet per second or 4.3 million acre-feet per year. This is 

more than 150 times as much flow as the 39 cubic feet 

per second or 28,000 acre-feet per year that originates 

within the study area (Lindskov and Kimball, 1982, 

p. 32, 41). During periods of low flow in the Duchesne 

and White Rivers, the dissolved-solids concentration is 

almost 1,000 milligrams per liter, at which point it would 

become slightly saline. The quality of the water in the 

Green River is less affected by low flow because of the 

moderating effect of releases from the Flaming Gorge 

Reservoir upstream from the study area. The variability 

of the quantity and quality of the flows in the major rivers are reported in detail in Lindskov and Kimball 

(1982), and the flows of the Green and White Rivers are 

discussed later in "Selected sources of water supply for 

an oil-shale industry."

INTRA AREA

The quantity of water available in an area at any time 

is determined by the interactions of the various components of the hydrologic cycle. A water budget can be 

defined using the following equation:

(1) IF+P=ET+ OF±storage changes 

where

IF is the inflow in streams and aquifers,

P is the precipitation,

ET is the evapotranspiration, and

OF is the outflow in streams and aquifers.

About 4 million acre-feet of water per year enters and 

leaves the study area in the Duchesne, Green, and White 

Rivers. This water originates as precipitation that falls 

outside the study area, and it is largely isolated from the 

surface and ground water of the study area. Thus, only 

the runoff resulting from precipitation directly on the 

study area will be included in the water budget. Considering only those components that originate within the 

study area, equation (1) changes to:

(2) P=ET+flO+GW±storage changes 

where P and ET are the same as in equation (1), RO is 

the runoff in the intra-area streams resulting from precipitation on the study area, and G W is the difference between ground-water inflow and outflow. Because there is 

no known ground-water inflow from outside the study 

area, only ground-water outflow is considered in equation (2). The quantity and quality of these components 

are discussed in the following sections and summarized 

in the section entitled "Summary of intra-area water 

budget."

PRECIPITATION

The normal annual precipitation that falls directly on 

the study area averages 11 inches (Waltemeyer, 1982, 

p. 18). Converted to an annual volume, this represents 

1.8 million acre-feet, or an annual average of 195 million 

gallons for each square mile of area. However, the precipitation actually varies greatly from place to place and 

from time to time, mostly in response to changes in altitude. The normal annual precipitation ranges from less 

than 8 inches in areas where altitudes are below 5,000 

feet to more than 20 inches in parts of the Roan Plateau 

where altitudes exceed 9,000 feet. The data in figure 6 indicate how total annual precipitation could vary during 

long periods at Bonanza, Utah, where the normal annual 

precipitation is 8.2 inches. During extremely dry years, 

precipitation could be as little as 4 inches and in extremely wet years as great as 15 inches.

As shown in figure 7, the average precipitation at four 

representative sites in the study area is distributed fairly
10 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECT S OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

Z

o

u

LLJ 

DC 

Q.

20

10

not exceeding

Z 2 5 10 20 50 100 

< RECURRENCE INTERVAL, IN YEARS

FIGURE 6. Magnitude and frequency of annual precipitation at Bonanza, Utah. (Adapted from Waltemeyer, 1982, fig. 11.)

evenly throughout the year. Although the average 

monthly precipitation usually is slightly greater from 

April to October, in a given year any month can be either 

excessively wet or dry.

The information summarized above and that reported 

by Waltemeyer (1982) emphasize the variability in the 

quantity of precipitation that falls on the study area. 

These variations will become increasingly significant as 

we consider what happens to the precipitation once it 

reaches the land surface.

Precipitation that falls on the southeastern Uinta Basin contains few dissolved solids. Kimball (1981) 

describes how this water acquires dissolved solids as it 

interacts with soils and rocks in the area.

SURFACE-WATER RUNOFF

The runoff from the intra-area streams (streams originating in the study area) comes mostly from areas above 

7,000 feet. The mean annual runoff is about 39 cubic feet 

per second, equivalent to 0.2 inch or 28,000 acre-feet per 

year (Lindskov and Kimball, 1982, p. 41). This is 1.6 percent of the 1.8 million acre-feet of precipitation that falls 

on the area during an average year. The largest unit runoff (average runoff per square mile) gaged was 1.6 inches 

for an 11.7-square-mile area in the headwaters of Bitter 

Creek. About two-thirds of the study area contributes an 

average of less than 0.1 inch of runoff (fig. 8).

The average runoff from the intra-area streams varies 

from one location to another and also varies seasonally

and yearly at each location. The annual variation in runoff at two gaging stations, which together measure runoff 

from more than one-third of the study area, is shown in 

figure 9. Runoff in wet years can be five or more times 

greater than during dry years. The average monthly variations in runoff for these stations are shown in figure 10. 

A large part of the runoff occurs during March to June as 

snowmelt or during July and August when thunderstorm 

activity is great.

General changes in water quality in the streams in the 

study area expressed as dissolved-solids concentrations, 

are shown in figure 11. Even though concentrations are 

large, the contributions of the intra-area streams to the 

salinity of the major rivers is slight because of the small 

runoff from the intra-area streams. Runoff from thunderstorms in the intra-area streams, however, can contain dissolved-solids concentrations that are greater than 

normal because soluble salts in the streambeds are dissolved (Lindskov and Kimball, 1982, p. 109).

GROUND WATER

Three aquifers in the study area contain a large quantity of water (Holmes and Kimball, 1983). They are 

alluvial deposits of small areal extent along the major 

drainages; the bird's-nest aquifer of the Parachute Creek 

Member of the Green River Formation, which is limited 

to the central part of the study area; and the Douglas 

Creek aquifer of the Douglas Creek Member of the Green 

River Formation (includes the Renegade Tongue of the 

Wasatch Formation), which underlies most of the study 

area. There is no known ground-water inflow from outside the study area to any of these aquifers except for a 

small quantity in the alluvium in the White and Green 

Rivers. Bird's-nest aquifer corresponds to the bird's-nest 

zone as described by Cashion (1967, p. 17) because the 

outcrop of this informally named zone has the "appearance of a wall supporting many swallows' nests."

Within the study area, the recharge to the alluvium is 

about 32,000 acre-feet per year from infiltration of 

streamflow and inflow from the consolidated-rock aquifers (Holmes and Kimball, 1983, table 2). Discharge from 

the alluvium primarily is by evapotranspiration and also 

is estimated to be 32,000 acre-feet per year. The recoverable water in storage in the alluvium is about 200,000
THE HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM 11

Site in T. 10 S., R. 20 E. 

Altitude 4860 feet

Site in T. 9 S., R. 24 E. 

Altitude 5450 feet

2.0

1.6

1.2

05 

LJJ

U 0.8

> 0.4

CJ

LJJ

o: 

o. Site in T. 15 S., R. 24 E. 

Altitude 6820 feet

Site in T. 15 S., R. 19 E. 

Altitude 8100 feet

JFMAMJJASOND J FMAMJJASOND

FIGURE 7. Seasonal variations in precipitation at four representative sites, 1941-70. (Adapted from Waltemeyer, 1982,

fig- 9.)

acre-feet (Holmes and Kimball, 1983, table 3).

The areal variation of water quality in the alluvium is 

shown in figure 12. In each of the intra-area drainages, 

the salinity of the water in the alluvium increases in a 

downstream direction, largely because of concentration 

by evapotranspiration. The water type generally changes 

downstream from a calcium magnesium sodium sulfate 

or bicarbonate type to a sodium sulfate type (Holmes and 

Kimball, 1983, fig. 6).

Within the study area, the recharge to the bird's-nest 

aquifer by infiltration of streamflow and downward leakage from the Uinta Formation is about 670 acre-feet per 

year. Discharge from the bird's-nest aquifer also is about 

670 acre-feet per year, primarily by diffuse seepage to the 

White River and Bitter Creek. The recoverable water in 

storage in the bird's-nest aquifer is about 1.9 million 

acre-feet.

The areal variation of water quality in the bird's-nest
12 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

110W 109°30' 109W

30'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado, 1968 

and Utah, 1959, 1:500,000, State bases

30 MILES

0 30 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

AVERAGE ANNUAL RUNOFF 

LESS THAN 0.1 INCH

0.1 TO 1.0 INCH

MORE THAN 1.0 INCH

FIGURE 8. Average annual runoff. (Adapted from Lindskov and Kimball, 1982, fig. 13.)
THE HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM 13

LLJ 

EC 

O

Mean =869 acre-feet per year

0.5 -

1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 

STATION 09306800, BITTER CREEK NEAR BONANZA

1978 1979

t/) 

D

C/)

D 

O

I ID 

EC

Mean =17,530 acre-feet per

1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 

STATION 09308000, WILLOW CREEK NEAR OURAY

FIGURE 9. Annual runoff at two gaging stations.

aquifer is shown in figure 13. Most of the aquifer contains moderately saline water of the sodium bicarbonate 

or sulfate types (Holmes and Kimball, 1983, fig. 19). 

North of the White River, W. B. Cashion (U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 1982) reports that samples obtained from test holes were briny, with dissolvedsolids concentrations of about 100,000 milligrams per liter. Thus, there appears to be a large increase of 

dissolved solids to the north. South of Bonanza, near the 

outcrop of the bird's-nest aquifer, recharge is primarily 

from Evacuation Creek (Holmes and Kimball, 1983). 

Near Asphalt Wash and Southam Canyon, recharge from 

the overlying Uinta Formation dilutes the water in the 

aquifer and reduction of sulfate causes the water to 

change to a sodium bicarbonate type.

Within the study area, the recharge to the Douglas 

Creek aquifer is by precipitation and infiltration of

streamflow, which total about 20,000 acre-feet per year. 

Discharge from the Douglas Creek aquifer also is about 

20,000 acre-feet per year, primarily through springs in 

the outcrop area. The recoverable water in storage in the 

Douglas Creek aquifer is about 16 million acre-feet.

The water in the Douglas Creek aquifer ranges from 

fresh to moderately saline, as shown in figure 14. In the 

southern part of the study area, which is the recharge 

area for the aquifer, the dissolved-solids concentrations 

generally are less than 1,000 milligrams per liter. The water is mostly a mixed sodium magnesium sulfate bicarbonate type. As the water moves to the north, water-rock 

interactions increase the dissolved-solids concentration. 

Calcium and magnesium are quantitatively removed 

from solution by precipitation of carbonate minerals, and 

sulfate is reduced by anaerobic bacteria. Thus, the water 

becomes a sodium bicarbonate type (Holmes and Kim-
14 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO 

0.4

OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT 

STATION 09306800, BITTER CREEK NEAR BONANZA

OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT 

STATION 09308000, WILLOW CREEK NEAR OURAY

FIGURE 10. Average, maximum, and minimum monthly mean runoff at two gaging stations.

ball, 1983). Goode and Feltis (1962, p. 17) have noted 

that the dissolved-solids concentration of water from the 

Red Wash field north of the study area ranges from

about 5,000 to 26,000 milligrams per liter, and the water 

is a sodium chloride carbonate type. These wells produce 

water mostly from the Douglas Creek aquifer.
THE HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM 15

now 109°30' 1D9°00'

30'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey. Coloredo, 1968 

and Utah. 1959, 1:500.000, State bases

30 MILES

30 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

MEAN DISSOLVED-SOLIDS CONCENTRATION, 

IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER

LESS THAN 1000, FRESH 

1000-3000, SLIGHTLY SALINE 

3000-10,000, MODERATELY SALINE

MORE THAN 10,000, VERY SALINE

470

V LOCATION OF WATER-QUALITY SITENumber is mean dissolved-solids 

concentration, in milligrams per liter

FIGURE 11. General quality of surface water.
16 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

110°00' 1D9°30' 109°0(r

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado, 1968 0 

and Utah, 1959, 1:500,000, State bases U

20 30 MILES

_J

20 30 KILOMETERS 

EXPLANATION

MEAN DISSOLVED-SOLIDS CONCENTRATION, 

IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER

LESS THAN 1000, FRESH 

1000-3000. SLIGHTLY SALINE 

3000-10,000, MODERATELY SALINE

MORE THAN 10,000, VERY SALINE

V LOCATION OF WATER-QUALITY SITENumber is mean dissolved-solids 

concentration, in milligrams per liter

FIGURE 12. General quality of water in alluvial aquifers.
R. 23 E.

THE HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM

R. 24 E.

17

R. 25 E.

APPROXIMATE AREAL EXTENT OF THE 

BIRD'S-NEST AQUIFER

MEAN DISSOLVED-SOLIDS CONCENTRATION, 

IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER

1000-3000, SLIGHTLY SALINE 

3000-10,000 MODERATELY SALINE

LOCATION OF WATER-QUALITY SITENumber is mean dissolved-solids 

concentration, in milligrams per liter

FIGURE 13. General quality of water in the bird's-nest aquifer in the Parachute Creek Member of the

Green River Formation.

Ground-water discharges from the bedrock aquifers to 

the alluvial deposits in the study area and a small quantity leaves the study area in the alluvium of the Green River. The quantity leaving the study area is considered to 

be equal to the quantity entering the study area in the alluvium in the White and Green Rivers.

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION

Evapotranspiration consumes most of the precipitation that falls on the southeastern Uinta Basin. Even in 

areas where runoff is large, evapotranspiration, on the
18 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

now 109°30' 109°00'

30'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado, 1968 

and Utah, 1959, 1:500,000, State bases

30 MILES

I 

30 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

MEAN DISSOLVED-SOLIDS CONCENTRATION, 

IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER

LESS THAN 1000, FRESH 

1000-3000, SLIGHTLY SALINE

3000-10,000 MODERATELY SALINE

940

LOCATION OF WATER-QUALITY SITE 

Number is mean dissolved-solids 

concentration, in milligrams per liter

FIGURE 14. General quality of water in the Douglas Creek aquifer.
THE HYDROLOGIC SYSTEM 19

average, consumes about 90 percent of the annual precipitation. The largest unit runoff gaged was 1.6 inches 

for an 11.7-square-mile area in the headwaters of Bitter 

Creek (Lindskov and Kimball, 1982, table 2), where the 

average precipitation is about 17 inches. In comparison, 

of the average of 11 inches that fall on the entire study 

area, an average of 0.2 inch flows to the White and Green 

Rivers. Thus, about 98 percent (10.8 inches or 1.76 million acre-feet) of the precipitation that falls on the area 

is returned directly to the atmosphere.

Although evapotranspiration from some alluvial aquifers may equal or exceed 18 inches during an average 

year (Holmes and Kimball, 1983), the total water consumed by evapotranspiration from the alluvial aquifers 

throughout the study area is only about 28,000 acrefeet less than 2 percent of the total evapotranspiration 

in the area.

Annual evapotranspiration tends to be more constant 

than annual precipitation. Variations for precipitation 

and potential evapotranspiration at Fort Duchesne, 

Utah, for 1943-75 are shown in figure 15. The annual 

potential evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation 

during the entire period of record. The difference ranges 

from 15.3 inches during the wettest year (1965) to 41.3

inches during the driest year (1974). The difference accounts for the small runoff observed from the intra-area 

streams, and it also indicates that an increase in precipitation does not always produce much increase in runoff.

Evapotranspiration causes a deterioration of the 

chemical quality of both surface water and ground water 

in alluvium. Solutes are concentrated by evapotranspiration, and in some cases notably in Bitter Creek the 

water becomes very saline (figs. 11 and 12).

SUMMARY OF INTRA-AREA WATER BUDGET

The water budget for the components of the hydrologic 

cycle that originate within the study area has been expressed in equation (2) as

P=ET+RO+GW±stoT&ge changes. 

Substituting values previously discussed gives, in inches,

11 = 10.8+0.2+0±storage changes.

There is practically no surface storage in the area. Although the combined recoverable storage in the three 

aquifers is about 18 million acre-feet, the present rate of 

withdrawal from wells is so small that there is no longterm change in ground-water storage. Thus, total annual 

storage changes in the area are considered to be zero.

o

Potential evapotranspiration

1943 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975

FIGURE 15. Annual precipitation and potential evapotranspiration at Fort Duchesne, Utah, 1943-75. Potential evapotranspiration is considered

to be 0.70 times pan evaporation (Hjelmfelt and Cassidy, 1975, p. 171-172).
20 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

WATER REQUIREMENTS FOR AN 

OIL-SHALE INDUSTRY

The U.S. Department of the Interior (1973) assumed 

that 17 mines and plants might be involved in the production of 1 million barrels per day of oil from oil shale 

in the Green River Formation in Colorado, Utah, and 

Wyoming. Mining was envisioned that would produce 

more than 50,000 tons per day of oil shale from an underground mine and more than 100,000 tons per day from 

an open-pit mine. The shale would then be retorted on 

the surface. Underground (in situ) retorting techniques 

that require no mining also are envisioned, as are combinations of underground mining and in situ retorting. 

The water requirements will depend on the type of 

mining and the size of the industry.

ABOVEGROUND PROCESSES

Baughman (1978, p. 67-104) provides the history and a 

brief description of 11 patented aboveground-retorting 

processes. Included are the N-T-U (Nevada-Texas-Utah) 

process, Gas Combustion process, Kiviter process 

(U.S.S.R.), Petrosix process, Lurgi-Ruhrgas process, 

TOSCO II process, Superior Oil process, Galoter process 

(U.S.S.R.), Hydrogen Retorting, Union Oil process, and 

Paraho process. According to Davis and Wood (1974), 

the three most advanced types of retorts for heating oil 

shale are the Union Oil process, the Gas Combustion 

process, and the TOSCO II process.

The water requirements for each process varies considerably. For example, the TOSCO II process assumes that 

the retorted shale is compacted and cemented with water, whereas in the Paraho process the retorted shale is 

compacted without water. The water requirement for the 

Paraho process is mainly for revegetation, whereas in the 

TOSCO II process, it is largely for compaction.

Depending upon the process, the total quantity of water required by a unit-size (100,000 barrels per day) oilshale mine ranges from about 13,400 to 20,100 acre-feet 

per year (Davis and Wood, 1974, p. 9). The average water 

requirements for mining, surface retorting, upgrading, 

disposal of retorted shale, and other associated uses are 

listed in table 1.

IN SITU PROCESSES

Baughman (1978, p. 104-111) describes eight in situ 

processes. They include processes developed by Talley 

Energy Systems, Geokinetics, Inc., Equity Oil Co., Laramie Energy Research Center, Dow Chemical Co., Occidental Petroleum Corp., the Lawrence Livermore 

Laboratory, and the Nuclear In situ process.

TABLE 1. Summary of water requirements for a 100,000-barrelper-day oil-shale mine with retorting above ground

Adapted from Davis and Wood, 1974, p. 9-10

Category

Mining and crushing

Retorting

Shale-oil upgrading

Processed-shale disposal

Power requirements

Revegetation

Miscellaneous, including

associated urban use

Total

Average requirement

(Acre-feet

per year)

890

1,290

3.7TO

7,270

1,780

350

1.600

16,890

(Barrels of water

per barrel of oil)

0.2

.3

.8

1.5

.4

.1

.3

3.6

Range in requirement

(Acre-feet per year)

600-900

900-1,500

1,700-4,400

2,400-8,400

1,000-4,500

0-1,800

1,000-2,000

TABLE 2. Summary of water requirements for a 100,000-barrelper-day oil-shale mine with retorting by the Occidental modified in situ

process

Adapted from Nowacki, 1981, p. 254

Category

Mining and crushing

Retorting and shale-oil upgrading

Process-shale disposal and revegetation

Power requirements

Miscellaneous, including associated urban use

Total

(Acre-feet

per year)

966

5,004

2,206

(')

1,550

9,726

Average requirement

(Barrels of water

per barrel of oil)

0.2

1.1

.5

(M

.3

2.1

1 Not applicable for project or site analyzed.

The water requirements for in situ processes are considerably less than those for aboveground processes 

because a large part of the requirement for aboveground 

retorting is for dust control during disposal of the retorted shale. This is apparent by comparing table 1 with 

table 2, which shows average water requirements for the 

various categories of in situ processing.

TOTAL REQUIREMENTS

It is not known how much oil shale eventually will be 

mined and processed in the southeastern Uinta Basin. 

The U.S. Department of the Interior (1973) envisioned a 

1-million-barrel-per-day national industry, but in 1979, 

the Carter Administration declared a national goal of 

400,000 barrels per day by 1990. At this time (1982), the 

total production in the southeastern Uinta Basin is approximately 150 barrels per day from an experimental 

plant operated by Geokinetics, Inc.

About 80 billion barrels of shale oil in the southeastern 

Uinta Basin is recoverable through presently known 

technology (Probstein and Gold, 1978, p. 247). This is 

about 15 percent of the shale oil in the Green River Formation. If the daily production were about 150,000 barrels, the reserves would last nearly 1,500 years. Planned 

oil-shale mining (fig. 16) by White River Shale Oil Corp.
110W

TOTAL REQUIREMENTS

109°30'

 21

109°00'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado, 1968 

and Utah, 1959, 1:500,000, State bases

30 MILES

I T 

20 30 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

PROPOSED AREAS OF OIL-SHALE 

MINING (1981)

TOSCO CORP.

MAGIC CIRCLE ENERGY CORP.

PARAHO DEVELOPMENT CORP.

SYNTANA-Utah project

(Quintana Minerals Corp.) 

GEOKINETICS, INC.

FEDERAL LEASE TRACTS

FIGURE 16. Proposed areas of oil-shale mining (1981).
22 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

(Federal lease tracts Ua and Ub), TOSCO Corp., Paraho 

(U.S. Department of Energy project), and Geokinetics, 

Inc., has the potential to produce 170,000 barrels per day. 

With additional leasing, production could more than 

double and attain a peak of 400,000 barrels per day. This 

400,000 barrels per day would deplete the reserves in 

about 550 years.

The peak production of 400,000 barrels per day should 

not require more than 67,600 acre-feet of water per year, 

assuming aboveground retorting with an average of 3.6 

barrels of water used for each barrel of oil produced. 

Thus, unless otherwise stated, a water requirement of 

about 70,000 acre-feet per year for peak production of 

shale oil is used in this report when comparing watersupply options and evaluating long-range impacts on the 

water resources of the area. The U.S. Department of the 

Interior (1973) envisioned 4 in situ mines and 13 surface 

mines. Even if one-half the shale were mined using modified in situ methods, the water requirements for producing 400,000 barrels of oil per day would be 54,000 

acre-feet per year.

A small percentage of the total water requirements will 

be produced by mining activities. Water will be produced 

from drainage of the aquifer above the mining zone while 

sinking shafts, from dewatering the mining zone, and 

from retorting. For the southeastern Uinta Basin, the 

quantity of drainage from above the mining zone at the 

Federal lease tracts Ua and Ub was estimated by Holmes 

and Kimball (1983) to be about 1,500 acre-feet per year 

or 900 gallons per minute for one shaft. During or after 

completion of the shaft, grouting would eliminate this 

drainage. Little is known about the hydraulic characteristics of the mining zone, but there is no indication 

that the oil shale contains or will transmit appreciable 

quantities of water. It seems reasonable to assume, therefore, that if any dewatering is necessary, total pumpage 

for a 100,000-barrel-per-day mine would not exceed 1,500 

acre-feet per year per shaft. Finally, the water produced 

during retorting probably would not exceed one-third 

barrel per barrel of oil. Furthermore, the quality of the 

retort water may limit its use. Thus, the water produced 

during mining in the southeastern Uinta Basin probably 

will not provide large supplies for oil-shale processing.

SELECTED SOURCES OF WATER

SUPPLY FOR AN OIL-SHALE

INDUSTRY

Utah's unused share of water in the Colorado River 

system in 1980 was about 500,000 acre-feet per year 

(Utah Division of Water Resources, 1980, p. 43). This is 

more than seven times the estimated peak requirement

for an oil-shale industry in Utah. Numerous options are 

available for developing the necessary water supplies, 

and some of these options are discussed in the following 

sections.

WHITE RIVER

NATURAL FLOW

The natural flow of the White River during most years 

could provide the estimated 70,000 acre-feet (97 cubic 

feet per second) of water that may be needed for an oilshale industry. Discharge rates of less than 97 cubic feet 

per second would occur for an average of only 1 day once 

every 8 years (fig. 17) or for 1 week once about every 20 

years. These low-flow conditions generally are during 

July-August and December-January (fig. 18). Thus, on 

the basis of the present anticipated needs for an oil-shale 

industry, the required water supply generally could be 

taken directly from the river, even if no storage facilities 

were available.

A water supply derived from the natural flow of the 

White River may be affected by a proposed compact and 

future water-resource development in Colorado. The Ute 

Indian Tribe of Fort Duchesne, Utah, has prime water 

rights on the White River under the Winters Doctrine 

(Winters v. United States, 207 U.S. 564, 52 L. Ed. 340, 

28 S. Ct. 207, 1908), with a potential to irrigate 12,833 

additional acres of land. A bill was passed endorsing a 

Ute Indian Water Compact during the 1980 session of 

the Utah Legislature. The proposed compact between 

the Tribe and Utah, which was authorized and approved 

by the State but not yet (1982) ratified by the Tribe, 

would allocate 62,000 acre-feet per year (86 cubic feet per 

second) to the Tribe. In addition, no interstate compact 

between Colorado and Utah regulates the water of the 

White River. Thus, water use upstream in Colorado may 

deplete the flow in the White River in the southeastern 

Uinta Basin.

REGULATED FLOW

WHITE RIVER DAM

The Utah Division of Water Resources has proposed 

an earthen dam (fig. 19) across the White River which 

would create a 13.5-mile reservoir (White River reservoir, fig. 19) and flood about 1,860 acres. The reservoir 

would have a total capacity of 105,000 acre-feet, of which 

67,500 acre-feet would be active storage (U.S. Bureau of 

Land Management, 1980, p. 1). The main purpose of the 

reservoir would be to assure water for energy development, including oil shale. Potential users of the reservoir 

mentioned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management
SELECTED SOURCES OF WATER SUPPLY FOR AN OIL-SHALE INDUSTRY 23

1.01 1.05 1.25 2.0 3.0 5.0 10 20 

RECURRENCE INTERVAL, IN YEARS

50100

FIGURE 17. Magnitude and frequency of annual low flows at station 

09306500, White River near Watson. (Lindskov and Kimball, 1982, 

fig. 29.)

(1980, p.l) are the White River Shale Oil Corp. (13,000 

to 26,000 acre-feet per year), TOSCO Corp. (18,000 acrefeet per year), Moon Lake powerplant (18,000 acre-feet 

per year), and the City of Bonanza (about 4,000 acre-feet 

per year).

The White River reservoir would cover 1,860 acres of 

oil-shale deposits which would become unavailable for 

mining. An historic site, the Ignatio Stage Stop and possibly many archeological remains would be inundated by 

the reservoir. The impacts on downstream water resources are discussed later.

OFF-STREAM STORAGE IN HELLS HOLE CANYON

Water pumped from the White River during high-flow 

periods to a reservoir in Hells Hole Canyon (fig. 19) 

could be used during low-flow periods to supplement water pumped directly from the White River (U.S. Bureau 

of Land Management, 1980, p. 2). As stated previously, 

the daily flow in the White River is less than the peak requirements needed for an oil-shale industry 97 cubic 

feet per second (equivalent to 70,000 acre-feet per 

year) only 1 day, on the average, in every 8 years or for 

1 week every 20 years. During years of average or above 

average flow, all required water could be pumped or diverted directly from the White River. When flows in the 

White River are less than the quantities needed, releases 

from the reservoir in Hells Hole Canyon could satisfy the 

deficiencies.

The 25,000-acre-foot reservoir proposed in Hells Hole 

Canyon would inundate only about 260 acres of oil shale. 

In addition, this smaller reservoir would have less 

environmental impact than a reservoir on the White 

River.

GREEN RIVER

The 70,000 acre-feet per year of water could be 

pumped directly from the Green River (U.S. Bureau of 

Land Management, 1980, p. 2). The water could be 

released about 120 miles upstream from Flaming Gorge 

Reservoir into the Green River and pumped out of the 

river into a pipeline about 5 miles south of Jensen, Utah 

(fig. 19). The pipeline would deliver the water to the 

White River near the proposed White River Dam. Structures necessary to transport the water from the Green 

River to the White River include a river pumping station, settling pond and sluiceway, two highlift pumping 

stations, and about 28 miles of buried steel pipeline. Although there appear to be fewer constraints when compared to other alternatives, the prorated annual cost for 

delivering the water is greater (U.S. Bureau of Land 

Management, 1980, p. 165).

GROUND WATER

Three aquifers could be pumped to supply water for an 

oil-shale industry. According to Holmes and Kimball 

(1983), the recoverable water in storage is 0.2 million 

acre-feet in alluvium, 1.9 million acre-feet in the bird'snest aquifer, and 16 million acre-feet in the Douglas 

Creek aquifer.

Although it appears that ground water in storage could 

supply 70,000 acre-feet per year for more than 200 years, 

yields of individual wells and interference between wells 

limit maximum withdrawals from the aquifers. Holmes 

and Kimball (1983), for the areas shown in figure 20, determined that the maximum annual yields for 20 years of 

pumping would be about 20,000 acre-feet for the bird'snest aquifer and about 1,400 acre-feet for the Douglas 

Creek aquifer. Thus, although it appears that ground water could meet only a small part of the demand, it could
24 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT

FIGURE 18. Daily-duration hydrographs for indicated percentage of time flow at station 09306500, White River near Watson, was equal to or

greater than that shown. (Lindskov and Kimball, 1982, fig. 27.)

be used in conjunction with surface water, thus decreasing the required surface storage and satisfying much 

of the demand for experimental plants and public supply. 

Ground and surface water are hydraulically connected 

in the study area. Holmes and Kimball (1983) indicated 

that after 20 years of pumping 10,000 acre-feet per year 

from the bird's-nest aquifer, more than one-half the water would be coming from leakage from the overlying 

Uinta Formation and induced infiltration into the aquifer from the White River. Long-term withdrawals from 

the alluvium also would decrease streamflow in many 

tributaries. However, it appears that pumping from the 

Douglas Creek aquifer would have little, if any, effect on 

flows in the White or Green Rivers.

POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF AN OILSHALE INDUSTRY ON WATER 

RESOURCES

An oil-shale industry could have many impacts on the 

water resources of the southeastern Uinta Basin. The 

consumptive use of the water could deplete the supply for 

other water users, and the water quality also could be directly or indirectly affected. Direct effects could include 

the accidental release of retort or leachate waters to the 

surface or ground water of the area, and the failure of 

holding ponds for retorted shale and process waters. Indirect effects include construction, mining, processing, 

and disposal activities. These impacts are discussed 

below in terms of water supply and water quality.
POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF AN OIL-SHALE INDUSTRY ON WATER RESOURCES 25

110°

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, 

Utah State base, 1:500,000, 1959

15 MILES

~\

15 KILOMETERS

FIGURE 19. Location of proposed projects that may be associated with an oil-shale industry.
26 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

HOW 1C9°30' 109°00'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado, 1968 

and Utah, 1959, 1:500,000, State bases

10 20 30 KILOMETERS 

EXPLANATION

BIRD'S-NEST AQUIFER IN PARACHUTE CREEK 

MEMBER OF THE GREEN RIVER FORMATION

DOUGLAS CREEK AQUIFER

FIGURE 20. Approximate areal extent used in determination of maximum annual yields from the consolidated-rock aquifers.
POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF AN OIL-SHALE INDUSTRY ON WATER RESOURCES 27

WATER SUPPLY

The use of any part of Utah's share of the flow in the 

Colorado River Basin for an oil-shale industry competes 

with other potential uses such as irrigation, public 

supply, and other industrial uses.

An oil-shale industry in the southeastern Uinta Basin 

that produced 400,000 barrels of oil per day could increase the annual consumptive water use in the Upper 

Colorado River Basin by about 70,000 acre-feet. This oil 

production would be only 13 percent of the 3 million barrels of oil equivalent from a synfuels industry that the 

water resources of the Upper Colorado Region can support (U.S. Water Resources Council, 1981, p. 35054); 

however, the Council concludes that:

Synthetic fuels development in some development areas will be limited unless additional water supply measures (i.e., reservoirs, water 

imports, groundwater) are developed. The White River area in Colorado and Utah with large oil shale reserves is of particular concern.

Provisions of the Compact among the Upper Basin States, which allocates water supplies among the States, may ultimately constrain 

synfuels development. Specifically, conversion of coal mined from the 

Four Corners area in New Mexico and both coal and oil shale conversion in Colorado, may ultimately be limited by those constraints.

WATER QUALITY

An oil-shale industry could have beneficial or detrimental effects on the water quality in the southeastern 

Uinta Basin. The use of water of poor quality from surface or ground-water sources could decrease the quantity 

of poor-quality water that reaches the White or Green 

Rivers, thus eventually decreasing the salt load of the 

Colorado River. However, the salt load could increase 

from the activities of an oil-shale industry. The detrimental effects on water quality can best be discussed in 

terms of the sediment load and the dissolved constituents in the water.

SEDIMENT

POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF THE WHITE RIVER DAM

The proposed White River Dam could cause significant changes in the erosion and sediment regime of the 

river downstream from the dam. In the downstream 18 

miles of the river, about 1,040 acre-feet of bed material is 

scoured and filled during the 2-year flood (Seiler and 

Tooley, 1982, p. 15). The proposed reservoir would trap 

about 90 percent of the sediment moving in the stream 

(Grenney and Kraszewski, 1980, p. 4; Utah Division of 

Water Resources, 1979, p. 42) and in turn would release a

large quantity of almost sediment-free water. Channel 

degradation of the reaches downstream from the dam 

could result because the material eroded during spring 

runoff would no longer be replaced. Increased bank erosion and channel migration of the river also could result 

from the large change in the sediment regime. If deepening of the White River channel occurs, there also could 

be increased erosion at the mouths of its tributary 

streams.

POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE 

PROCESSING FACILITIES

Sheet-erosion rates in the southeastern Uinta Basin 

are reportedly as large as 2.2 acre-feet per square mile per 

year (Seiler and Tooley, 1982, p. 37); but sediment yield 

to the White River is less than might be expected because of the small runoff. If process water from retort 

operations or water used in the construction of surface 

facilities is discharged into a normally dry streambed, increased channel erosion and sediment transport could result. Disturbance of the soil during construction of 

surface facilities could cause increased sediment transport by runoff. This problem could be minimized if 

construction is completed before the beginning of the 

late summer thunderstorm season.

Other sediment-related problems could result from the 

disposal of retorted-shale residue. Oil shale increases in 

volume by at least 20 percent during surface retorting. 

Thus, not all the shale can be backfilled in mines; and, 

furthermore, surface disposal of the retorted shale is less 

expensive than backfilling the shale into the mine. Sediment yields from surface piles of retorted oil shale are reported to be large (Colorado State University, 1971, table 

11). During simulated rain of 0.54 inch per hour, an uncompacted pile of retorted oil shale on a grade of 0.75 

percent (40 feet per mile) had a sediment yield of more 

than 0.3 ton per acre per hour, or 0.1 acre-foot per square 

mile per hour. Yield from the same pile after compaction 

was about 0.1 ton per acre per hour during a simulated 

rain with an intensity of 0.4 inch per hour. Sedimentyield rates from actual disposal piles can be expected to 

be greater because the grades of the piles will be steeper 

than 0.75 percent. The maximum 2-year rain intensity in 

the Uinta Basin is about 0.6 inch per hour (Miller and 

others, 1973), so rain intensities similar to those used in 

the Colorado State University study are reasonable and 

common.

Impounding ponds would be necessary to prevent sediment from the surface-processing sites and the retortedshale disposal areas from being transported into the
28 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

White River during storm runoff. Sheet-erosion rates 

during construction of the surface facilities are expected 

to be great; thus, the retaining ponds would need to be 

completed early in the development period to protect the 

White River and tributary streams from sediment transported by thunderstorm runoff from the construction 

sites.

The impounding ponds need to have sufficient capacity to retain 100 percent of the runoff from the 100-year, 

24-hour storm in order to prevent contamination of the 

White River. Because of their potential for rapid filling, 

the cleaning of these ponds would be important. Runoff 

from a small storm could transport enough sediment into 

the ponds so as to render them incapable of containing 

the sediment from later, and possibly more intense 

storms. The ponds would need to be inspected after every 

storm to determine if adequate storage space for sediment remained.

DISSOLVED CONSTITUENTS

The salinity of the Colorado River system could be affected by the development of an oil-shale industry, and 

any change in salinity would cause economic consequences for downstream users. A 1-million-barrel-perday oil-shale industry would increase the salinity of the 

Colorado River at Hoover Dam from 10 to 15 milligrams 

per liter of dissolved solids (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1973, p. 34). A prorated projection ranges from 4 

to 6 milligrams per liter for the salinity increase from a 

400,000-barrel-per-day oil-shale industry in Utah. The 

increase in salinity could result from construction, 

mining, processing, and disposal activities associated 

with the industry.

Construction activities generally increase the exposure 

of the natural waters in the basin to fresh material, 

which then can be leached and weathered by natural processes. Mining will necessitate drainage of the oil-shale 

zones. The water drained from these mines may be of 

poor quality. Releasing this water to streams or into other aquifers could increase the salinity of the surface or 

ground water.

Because of the potential impacts on water quality, disposal of retorted shale is an important concern. The 

potential to increase sediment loads has been mentioned 

above. Studies by Ward and others (1971) and Ward and 

Reinecke (1972) have analyzed the leaching potential of 

retorted shale piles. Each study found that the concentrations of various solutes in the leachate, particularly 

sodium and sulfate, were large.

The processing of oil shale produces "retort" water, 

which also could have adverse impacts on the environment. The chemical composition of four retort waters in

contrast with some natural waters of the southeastern 

Uinta Basin is compared in table 3. The chemical concentration of the four retort waters differ, but each of 

them differs considerably from any of the natural waters.

DISSOLVED SOLIDS

The retort waters have greater dissolved-solids concentrations than the natural waters of the southeastern 

Uinta Basin. Any mixing of the retort waters with the 

natural waters would degrade the latter. Not only are the 

dissolved-solids concentrations large in retort waters, but 

the unusual concentrations of certain constituents may 

have particular adverse impacts on water quality. 

Selected constituents are discussed below.

TOTAL ORGANIC CARBON

Organic carbon in the form of oil, grease, and other 

substances is an obvious product of the retorting process. 

Although concentrations of organic carbon in the natural 

waters are large because of the abundant organic material in the Green River Formation, the concentrations in 

retort waters far exceed the natural concentrations.

Stuber and Leenheer (1978) evaluated the various 

types of organic substances in both retort and natural 

waters of the Uinta Basin. They found that the organic 

substances in samples collected from natural surface waters were mostly humic and fulvic acids, other naturally 

occurring acids (hydrophobic and hydrophillic acids), 

and lesser quantities of proteins, amino acids, and sugars, as well as oil and grease. The retort waters, however, 

contain hydrocarbons that do not occur naturally, particularly aromatic amines (hydrophobic bases). The latter 

include carcinogens and mutagens (J. A. Leenheer, U.S. 

Geological Survey, oral commun., 1979).

MAJOR SOLUTES

The concentrations of anions in retort waters are 

much greater than the corresponding concentrations in 

natural waters, whereas the concentrations of the com- 

 mon cations are less. Among the anions that are much 

greater are chloride, sulfate (and associated species), and 

alkalinity as bicarbonate and carbonate ions. The sulfate 

species that are important in certain retort waters have 

been studied by Stuber and others (1978). Waste waters 

from in situ processing were found to contain thiosulfate 

(S2 03 ~~) as the most abundant species and large concentrations of thiocyanate (SCN~). These species, particularly thiocyanate, could persist in underground retorts 

and could pose a health hazard.
POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF AN OIL-SHALE INDUSTRY ON WATER RESOURCES 29

TABLE 3. Comparison of mean chemical composition of four retort waters with natural waters in the southeastern Uinta Basin

Adapted from Lindskov and Kimball, 1982, tables 7-12; Holmes and Kimball, 1983, tables 8 and 11; and Nowacki, 1981, table 7.3

Retort Waters

TOSCO II

process

Paraho

process

NTU

process

Modified Douglas

in situ Bird's-nest Creek

process aquifer aquifer

White

River

Natural Waters

Green Evacuation

River Creek

Bitter Willow and Ephemeral

Creek Hill Creeks washes

General characteristics

Specific conductance

(micromhos per

centimeter at 25° Celsius)

pH (units)

Turbidity

(Nephelometric turbidity

units)

120,000

8.4

40

16,000

8.8

15

49,600

8.7

_

82,250

8.1

86

3,660 2,140

8.4 8.4

560 

730

7.8

190

833

7.9

350

4,180

8.0

440

6,000

8.1

18

1,120

8.1

480

980

7.8

890

Major constituents (milligrams per liter)

Calcium, dissolved (Ca)

Magnesium, dissolved (Mg)

Sodium, dissolved (Na)

Potassium, dissolved (K)

Alkalinity, total as CaC03

Sulfide, total as S

Sulfate, dissolved (S04)

Chloride, dissolved (Cl)

Fluoride, dissolved (F)

Silica, dissolved (Si02 ) 

Dissolved solids 1

Suspended solids at

105° Celsius

18

30

30

3

35,200

<.5

5,500

70,000

5

3 

297,100

70

2.5

2

2

.4

12,800

1,350

29

2,300

3.1

2 

2 1 1,500

1

0.6

3

210

8

14

1,600

5,000

31

2 

13,700

92,300

915

376

53

5.1

257,600

50

74 40

90 38

740 480

5 2

730 630

18 3

1,300 450

96 130

2.2 3.3

16 14 

2,700 1,500

 

72

25

83

2.7

180

.3

190

61

.3

15 

500

2,100

71

30

76

3.1

173

260

27

.4

8 

570

3,100

150

150

690

7.0

390

.2

2,000

41

.8

10 

3,300

16,000

210

300

1,070

6.8

360

.1

3,500

77

.6

13 

5,300

510

71

52

110

2.8

320

.3

280

13

.4

15 

740

60

9

110

4.6

180

.1

240

11

.4

11 

550

34,000

Nutrients (milligrams per liter)

Nitrate, dissolved as N

Nitrite, dissolved as N

Nitrogen, ammonia, total as N

Nitrogen, total as N

Phosphorus, total (P04)

580

.1

31,700

33,600

<5

138

.3

3,390

5,100

<1

33

18,200

_

38,000

30,300

0.9 0.1

_ 

1 1.5

 

<.l 2

0.1

.01

.05

1.5

1.4

0.5

0

.05

1.8

2.0

1.1

.02

.7

1.6

.03

1.3

2

.01

2.6

_

Trace elements, dissolved (micrograms per liter)

Aluminum (Al)

Antimony (Sb)

Arsenic (As)

Barium (Ba)

Boron (B)

Cadmium (Cd)

Chromium (Cr)

Cobalt (Co)

Copper (Cu)

Iron (Fe)

Lead (Pb)

Lithium (Li)

Manganese (Mn)

Mercury (Hg)

Molybdenum (Mo)

Nickel (Ni)

Silver (Ag)

Strontium (Sr)

Tin (Sn)

Titanium (Ti)

Vanadium (V)

Zinc (Zn)

2,400

<900

<5

<300

1,200

<900

300

150

9,000

9,000

300

<2,000

1,200

<.l

<200

200

600

600

<300

<200

<300

< 1,200

360

.2

180

_

20

_

70

1,100

30

<.l

40

20

120

140

110

9

6

12

5,200

_

11

74

8

7,700

120

42

.1

56

1,100

7

8,900

640

37

260

0.5

_

_

_

_

<.l

_

_

70 40

<1 0

43 9

80 80

3,800 2,600

<1 <1

20 10

2 2

40 3

390 410

_ _

410 320

44 37

<1 <1

30 2

7 3

<1 <1

380 1,500

30 30

20 20

2 3

40 30

20

1

<100

150

_

_

42

12

<10

2

3

830

2

<20

_

2

<100

130

42

<10

<20

21

2

<100

1,100

15

44

82

83

31

5

3,400

1

<20

60

4

<100

3,300

<20

36

100

60

<.5

27

3,700

3

63

26

10

<100

620

23

43

22

26

<.l

17

960

6

<20

140

9

200

21

250

25

50

18

1,300

11

73

Organic compounds (milligrams per liter)

Carbon, organic total as C

Cyanide, dissolved as CN

Oil-grease, total

19,300

<.l

964

15,000

12

392

12,300

.2

1,430

 20

<0.01 0

3 2

14

<.001

1.5

18 14

<.001

4.0

24 24

^Dissolved solids for natural waters are calculated from determined constituents. 

Calculated sum, differs from values reported in Nowacki (1981, p. 251, 252).

NUTRIENTS

Nutrient concentrations, particularly nitrogen species, 

are enriched in the retort waters. The most abundant 

species is ammonia, which indicates that the waters are

greatly reduced in the retort process. Mixing retort waters with natural waters could cause reduction of other 

species. This could mobilize trace elements present as 

sediment coatings, which are insoluble precipitates when 

the waters are oxidized.
30 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

TRACE ELEMENTS

Although some trace elements are more concentrated 

in retort waters than in natural waters, there is no consistent enrichment in the retort waters. The concentrations of trace elements in the natural waters are kept 

small by sorption and precipitation processes, which remove the trace elements from solution. It is possible that 

the trace-element concentrations also are small in the retort waters because of sorption and precipitation onto 

the retorted shale. The trace elements could be released if 

conditions change to produce a reducing acid environment.

SUMMARY

An oil-shale industry in the southeastern Uinta Basin 

could impact the area's water resources. Background hydrologic information obtained during 1974-80 was used 

to evaluate potential impacts from mining and the use of 

proposed alternative sources of water supply. Normal annual precipitation on the area averages 11 inches, but it 

varies with altitude from less than 8 inches below 5,000 

feet to more than 20 inches where altitudes exceed 9,000 

feet on the Roan Plateau. Streamflow in the higher altitudes is perennial; but in areas where precipitation is 

less than 10 inches, streamflow is ephemeral. Mean annual runoff from the area is about 28,000 acre-feet and 

ranges from less than 0.1 to 1.6 inches, depending on location. At any given site, runoff varies greatly from year 

to year and season to season. Potential evapotranspiration is large, exceeding precipitation in all years. A large 

increase in precipitation does not always produce a large 

increase in runoff or ground-water recharge.

Three aquifers in the study area contain a large quantity of water. Alluvial deposits of small areal extent are 

present in the major drainages. Consolidated-rock aquifers include the bird's-nest aquifer of the Parachute 

Creek Member of the Green River Formation, which is 

limited to the central part of the study area, and the 

Douglas Creek aquifer of the Douglas Creek Member of 

the Green River Formation, which underlies most of the 

area. Although the total recoverable water in storage in 

these aquifers is about 18 million acre-feet, maximum 

practical withdrawals would be limited to about 20,000 

acre-feet per year.

The Green and White Rivers flow through the area 

and convey an average flow of 4.3 million acre-feet per 

year from an outside drainage of about 34,000 square 

miles. This is more than 150 times the flow that originates within the area.

An oil-shale industry in Utah with a peak production 

of 400,000 barrels of oil per day would require a water

supply of about 70,000 acre-feet per year. Ground-water 

withdrawals in the area may be limited to about 20,000 

acre-feet per year; thus alternative sources of supply were 

considered. Included were diversion from the natural 

flow of the White River, a proposed reservoir on the 

White River, diversion from the White River combined 

with proposed off-stream storage in Hells Hole Canyon, 

diversion from the Green River, and conjunctive use of 

surface and ground water.

Construction of a proposed dam on the White River 

would result in entrapment of about 90 percent of the 

sediment load moving in the river, which in turn would 

result in a release of nearly sediment-free water. Possible 

impacts are changes in channel gradient in the downstream 18 miles of the White River and changes in bank 

stability. In some areas, natural annual sheet-erosion 

rates are as great as 2.2 acre-feet per square mile. Because runoff is small, much of this eroded material is deposited in alluvial fans or along stream channels. If 

process water from retorting operations or water used in 

the construction of surface facilities is released into normally dry channels, increased channel erosion and sediment transport could result in tributary streams. This 

eventually would result in increased sediment loads in 

the White River. In addition, sediment yields from retorted shale piles contain large concentrations of sodium 

and sulfate, and the retort waters contain much organic 

carbon and nutrients. Without proper disposal of retort 

and leachate waters, a 400,000-barrel-per-day oil-shale 

industry in Utah could result in an increase in the salinity of the Colorado River at Hoover Dam by 4 to 6 milligrams per liter.

REFERENCES CITED

Reports marked by an asterisk are part of the series that describe

hydrologic investigations in oil-shale areas

in the southeastern Uinta Basin

Baughman, G. L.( compiler, 1978, Synthetic fuels data handbook (2nd 

ed.): Denver, Cameron Engineers, Inc., 438 p.

Bradley, W. H., 1930, The varves and climate of the Green River epoch: 

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 158-E, 24 p.

Brobst, D. A., and Tucker, J. D., 1973, X-ray mineralogy of the Parachute Creek Member, Green River Formation, in the northern 

Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 803, 53 p.

"Butler, J. R., and England, J. L., 1979, Vegetation map of the 

southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado: U.S. Geological 

Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map 1-1141, scale 1:126,720.

Cashion, W. B., 1967, Geology and fuel resources of the Green River 

Formation, southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado: U.S. 

Geological Survey Professional Paper 548, 48 p.

____1973, Geologic and structure map of the Grand Junction quadrangle, Colorado and Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous 

Geologic Investigations Map 1-736, scale 1:250,000.

Cashion, W. B., and Donnell, J. R., 1974, Revision of nomenclature of 

the upper part of the Green River Formation, Piceance Creek Ba-
REFERENCES CITED 31

sin, Colorado, and eastern Uinta Basin, Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1394-G, 9 p.

Colorado State University, 1971, Water pollution potential of spent oil 

shale residues: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Water Pollution Control Research Series 14030 EDB 12/71,101 p.

*Conroy, L. S., 1979, Hydrologic and climatologic data, southeastern 

Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado, water year 1977: U.S. Geological 

Survey Open-File Report 79-1493 (duplicated as Utah Hydrologic - 

Data Report 33), 193 p.

* 1980, Hydrologic and climatologic data, southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado, water year 1978: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 80-1025 (duplicated as Utah Hydrologic-Data 

Report 34), 166 p.

*Conroy, L. S., and Fields, F. K., 1977, Climatologic and hydrologic data, southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado, water years 1975 

and 1976: Utah Basic-Data Release No. 29, 244 p.

Davis, G. H., and Wood, L. A., 1974, Water demands for expanding energy development: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 703,14 p.

Desborough, G. A., Pittman, J. K., and Huffman, C., 1976, Concentration and mineralogical residence of elements in rich oil shales of 

the Green River Formation, Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado A 

preliminary report: Chemical Geology, v. 17, p. 13-26.

Dyni, J. R., 1976, Trioctahedral smectite in the Green River Formation, Duchesne County, Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Professional 

Paper 967,14 p.

Feltis, R. D., 1966, Water from bedrock in the Colorado Plateau of 

Utah: Utah State Engineer Technical Publication 15, 82 p.

Fenneman, N. M., 1946, Physical divisions of the United States: U.S. 

Geological Survey map, scale 1:7,000,000.

Goode, H. D., and Feltis, R. D., 1962, Water production from oil wells 

of the Uinta Basin, Uintah and Duchesne Counties, Utah: Utah 

Geological and Mineralogical Survey Water-Resources Bulletin 1, 

31 p.

Grenney, W. J., and Kraszewski, A. K., 1980, Flow-duration sediment 

rating curve analysis for three flow regimes for the White River 

near Ouray, Utah: Report submitted to BIO/WEST, Inc., by 

Twelve-Nine, Inc., Logan, Utah, 37 p.

Hjelmfelt, A. T., and Cassidy, J. J., 1975, Hydrology for engineers and

planners: Ames, Iowa, Iowa University Press, 210 p. 

"Holmes, W. F., 1979, Maps showing generalized structure contours on 

the tops of the Wasatch and Green River Formations, geologic sections, and contours of thickness of the Green River Formation, 

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32 WATER RESOURCES AND EFFECTS OF OIL-SHALE DEVELOPMENT, UTAH AND COLORADO

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