UNCONVENTIONAL OIL 

AND GAS PRODUCTION

Opportunities and 

Challenges of Oil Shale 

Development 

Statement of Anu K. Mittal, Director 

Natural Resources and Environment

Testimony 

Before the Subcommittee on Energy and 

Environment, Committee on Science, 

Space, and Technology, House of 

Representatives

Not to Be Released 

Before 9:30 a.m. EDT

Thursday, May 10, 2012 

GAO-12-740T

United States Government Accountability Office

GAO
United States Government Accountability Office

Highlights of GAO-12-740T, a testimony 

before the Subcommittee on Energy and 

Environment, Committee on Science, Space, 

and Technology, House of Representatives 

May 10, 2012 

UNCONVENTIONAL OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION

Opportunities and Challenges of Oil Shale 

Development

Why GAO Did This Study

Fossil fuels are important to both the 

global and U.S. economies, and 

“unconventional” oil and gas 

resources—resources that cannot be 

produced, transported, or refined using 

traditional techniques—are expected to 

play a larger role in helping the United 

States meet future energy needs. With 

rising energy prices one such resource 

that has received renewed domestic 

attention in recent years is oil shale. 

Oil shale is a sedimentary rock that 

contains solid organic material that can 

be converted into an oil-like product

when heated. About 72 percent of this 

oil shale is located within the Green 

River Formation in Colorado, Utah, and 

Wyoming and lies beneath federal 

lands managed by the Department of 

the Interior’s Bureau of Land 

Management, making the federal 

government a key player in its potential 

development. In addition, the 

Department of Energy (DOE), 

advances energy technology, including 

for oil shale, through its various offices, 

national laboratories, and 

arrangements with universities.

GAO’s testimony is based on its 

October 2010 report on the impacts of 

oil shale development (GAO-11-35). 

This testimony summarizes the 

opportunities and challenges of oil 

shale development identified in that 

report and the status of prior GAO 

recommendations that Interior take 

actions to better prepare for the 

possible future impacts of oil shale 

development. 

What GAO Found

In its October 2010 report, GAO noted that oil shale development presents the 

following opportunities for the United States: 

• Increasing domestic oil production. Tapping the vast amounts of oil locked 

within U.S. oil shale formations could go a long way toward satisfying the 

nation’s future oil demands. Oil shale deposits in the Green River Formation

are estimated to contain up to 3 trillion barrels of oil, half of which may be 

recoverable, which is about equal to the entire world’s proven oil reserves.

• Socioeconomic benefits. Development of oil shale resources could lead to 

the creation of jobs, increases in wealth, and increases in tax and royalty 

payments to federal and state governments for oil produced on their lands. 

The extent of these benefits, however, is unknown at this time because the 

ultimate size of the industry is uncertain.

In addition to these opportunities and the uncertainty of not yet having an 

economical and environmentally viable commercial scale technology, the 

following challenges should also be considered:

• Impacts on water, air, and wildlife. Developing oil shale and providing power 

for oil shale operations and other activities will require large amounts of water 

and could have significant impacts on the quality and quantity of surface and 

groundwater resources. In addition, construction and mining activities during 

development can temporarily degrade air quality in local areas. There can 

also be long-term regional increases in air pollutants from oil shale 

processing and the generation of additional electricity to power oil shale 

development operations. Oil shale operations will also require the clearing of 

large surface areas of topsoil and vegetation which can affect wildlife habitat, 

and the withdrawal of large quantities of surface water which could also 

negatively impact aquatic life.

• Socioeconomic impacts. Oil shale development can bring an influx of 

workers, who along with their families can put additional stress on local 

infrastructure such as roads, housing, municipal water systems, and schools. 

Development from expansion of extractive industries, such as oil shale or oil 

and gas, has typically followed a “boom and bust” cycle, making planning for 

growth difficult for local governments. Moreover, traditional rural uses would 

be displaced by industrial uses and areas that rely on tourism and natural 

resources would be negatively impacted.

GAO’s 2010 report found that federal research efforts on the impacts of oil shale 

development did not provide sufficient data for future monitoring and that there 

was a greater need for collaboration among key federal stakeholders to address 

water resources and research issues. Specifically, Interior and DOE officials 

generally have not shared information on their oil shale research efforts, and 

there was a need for the federal agencies to improve their collaboration and 

develop more comprehensive baseline information related to water resources in 

the region. GAO made three recommendations to Interior, which the department 

generally concurred with and has already begun to take actions to address.

View GAO-12-740T. For more information, 

contact Anu K. Mittal at (202) 512-3841 or 

mittala@gao.gov. 
 

Page 1 GAO-12-740T 

Chairman Harris, Ranking Member Miller, and Members of the 

Subcommittee:

I am pleased to be here today to participate in your hearing on the 

challenges and opportunities related to the potential development of 

unconventional oil and natural gas resources. As you know, fossil fuels 

are important to both the global and U.S. economies, and among other 

things, we rely on oil to fuel our transportation vehicles and on natural gas 

to a significant extent to heat and power our homes, businesses, and 

industries. For many years, the United States has relied heavily on 

imported oil and, to a lesser extent, imported natural gas, with domestic 

production largely limited to conventional oil and gas resources. However, 

in recent years, improvements in technology have allowed oil and gas 

operators to extract oil and natural gas from unconventional resources—

resources that cannot be produced, transported, or refined using 

traditional techniques. Examples of unconventional resources include oil 

shale (a sedimentary rock containing solid organic material that can be 

converted into a petroleum-like oil when heated), shale oil and gas, 

natural gas hydrates (crystalline solids consisting of water, methane, and 

usually a small amount of other gases that form beneath permafrost and 

on the ocean floor), and tar sands (a combination of clay, sand, water, 

and bitumen, a heavy black viscous oil).

These unconventional oil and gas resources are expected to play a larger 

role in helping the United States meet its future energy needs. In 

recognition of this fact, the Departments of Energy and the Interior and 

the Environmental Protection Agency released a memorandum on April 

13, 2012, announcing a collaborative interagency effort on 

unconventional oil and gas research. The memorandum states that the 

agencies will develop a multi-agency program focused on the highest 

priority challenges associated with safely and prudently developing 

unconventional resources.

My statement today is focused on oil shale development and will highlight 

several issues related to the opportunities and challenges related to oil 

shale development that we identified in an October 2010 report 

undertaken at the request of this committee.1

 

1

GAO currently has work ongoing on several topics related to other unconventional 

energy resources, namely shale oil and gas and issues related to federal and state 

agency regulation of unconventional resources. 

In addition, I will highlight 

 
 

Page 2 GAO-12-740T 

the key actions that federal agencies can take to proactively prepare for 

the potential development of a future oil shale industry. Our October 2010 

report was one of a series of reports that we have completed that 

examine the nexus between energy and water resources.2 This 2010 

report contains a detailed explanation of the methods used to conduct our 

work, which we performed in accordance with generally accepted 

government auditing standards.

One unconventional energy resource that has received renewed attention 

in recent years in the United States is oil shale. Historically, interest in oil 

shale development as a domestic energy source has waxed and waned 

since the early 1900s, as average crude oil prices have generally been 

lower than the threshold necessary to make oil shale development 

profitable over time. More recently, however, higher oil prices have 

renewed interest in developing oil shale. The federal government is in a 

unique position to influence the development of oil shale because nearly 

three-quarters of the oil shale within the Green River Formation lies 

beneath federal lands managed by the Department of the Interior’s 

(Interior) Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Energy Policy Act of 

2005 directed Interior to lease its lands for oil shale research and 

development. In June 2005, BLM initiated a leasing program for research, 

development, and demonstration (RD&D) of oil shale recovery 

technologies. By early 2007, it had granted six small RD&D leases: five in 

the Piceance Basin of northwest Colorado and one in the Uintah Basin of 

northeast Utah. The leases are for a 10-year period, and if the 

technologies are proven commercially viable, the lessees can significantly 

expand the size of the leases for commercial production into adjacent 

areas known as preference right lease areas. The Energy Policy Act of 

2005 also directed Interior to develop a programmatic environmental 

impact statement (PEIS) for a commercial oil shale leasing program. 

During the drafting of the PEIS, however, BLM determined that, without 

proven commercial technologies, it could not adequately assess the 

environmental impacts of oil shale development and dropped from 

consideration the decision to offer additional specific parcels for lease. 

Instead, the PEIS analyzed making lands available for potential leasing 

 

2 GAO, Energy-Water Nexus: A Better and Coordinated Understanding of Water 

Resources Could Help Mitigate the Impacts of Potential Oil Shale Development,

GAO-11-35 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 29, 2010). Also see related GAO products at the end 

of this statement.

Background
 

Page 3 GAO-12-740T 

and allowing industry to express interest in lands to be leased. 

Environmental groups then filed lawsuits, challenging various aspects of 

the PEIS and the RD&D program. Since then, BLM has initiated another 

round of oil shale RD&D leasing and the lawsuits were settled. 

Stakeholders in the future development of oil shale are numerous and 

include the federal government, state government agencies, the oil shale 

industry, academic institutions, environmental groups, and private 

citizens. Among federal agencies, BLM manages federal land and the oil 

shale beneath it and develops regulations for its development. The United 

States Geological Survey (USGS) describes the nature and extent of oil 

shale deposits and collects and disseminates information on the nation’s 

water resources, which are a significant consideration for oil shale 

development in the West. The Department of Energy (DOE), advances 

energy technologies, including oil shale technology, through its various 

offices, national laboratories, and arrangements with universities. The 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets standards for pollutants that 

could be released by oil shale development and reviews environmental 

impact statements, such as the PEIS. Also, Interior’s Bureau of 

Reclamation (BOR) manages federally built water projects that store and 

distribute water in 17 western states and provides this water to users, 

including states where oil shale research, development, and 

demonstration, is underway.

Our October 2010 report found that oil shale development presents 

significant opportunities for the United States. Potential opportunities 

associated with oil shale development include increasing domestic oil

production and socioeconomic benefits.

• Increasing domestic oil production. Being able to tap the vast amounts 

of oil locked within U.S. oil shale formations could go a long way 

toward satisfying the nation’s future oil demands. The Green River 

Formation—an assemblage of over 1,000 feet of sedimentary rocks 

that lie beneath parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming—contains the 

world’s largest deposits of oil shale. USGS estimates that the Green 

River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil, and about half 

of this may be recoverable, depending on available technology and 

economic conditions. The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research 

organization, estimates that 30 to 60 percent of the oil shale in the 

Green River Formation can be recovered. At the midpoint of this 

estimate, almost half of the 3 trillion barrels of oil would be 

recoverable. This is an amount about equal to the entire world’s 

Opportunities 

Presented by Future 

Oil Shale 

Development
 

Page 4 GAO-12-740T 

proven oil reserves. The thickest and richest oil shale within the Green 

River Formation exists in the Piceance Basin of northwest Colorado 

and the Uintah Basin of northeast Utah. Figure 1 shows where these 

prospective oil shale resources are located in Colorado and Utah.

Figure 1. Location of Oil Shale Resources in Colorado and Utah
 

Page 5 GAO-12-740T 

• Socioeconomic benefits. Development of oil shale resources could 

also yield important socioeconomic benefits, including the creation of 

jobs, increases in wealth, and increases in tax and royalty payments 

to federal and state governments for oil produced on their lands. Our 

October 2010 report did not attempt to quantify these potential 

socioeconomic benefits because of current uncertainty surrounding 

the technologies that might be used to develop oil shale resources, 

which would influence the ultimate size of a future oil shale industry.

Our October 2010 report also found, however, that there are a number of 

key challenges associated with potential oil shale development in the 

United States, including: (1) uncertainty about viable technologies, (2) 

environmental impacts that affect water quantity and quality, air, and land, 

and (3) socioeconomic impacts.

• Uncertainty about viable technologies. A significant challenge to the 

development of oil shale lies in the uncertainty surrounding the 

viability of current technologies to economically extract oil from oil 

shale. To extract the oil, the rock needs to be heated to very high 

temperatures—ranging from about 650 to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit—

in a process known as retorting. Retorting can be accomplished 

primarily by two methods. One method involves mining the oil shale, 

bringing it to the surface, and heating it in a vessel known as a retort. 

Mining oil shale and retorting it has been demonstrated in the United 

States and is currently done to a limited extent in Estonia, China, and 

Brazil. However, a commercial mining operation with surface retorts 

has never been developed in the United States because the oil it 

produces competes directly with conventional crude oil, which 

historically has been less expensive to produce. The other method, 

known as an in-situ process, involves drilling holes into the oil shale, 

inserting heaters to heat the rock, and then collecting the oil as it is 

freed from the rock. Some in-situ technologies have been 

demonstrated on very small scales, but other technologies have yet to 

be proven, and none has been shown to be economically or 

environmentally viable at a commercial scale. According to some 

energy experts, the key to developing our country’s oil shale is the 

development of an in-situ process because most of the richest oil 

shale is buried beneath hundreds to thousands of feet of rock, making 

mining difficult or impossible. In addition to these uncertainties, 

transporting the oil produced from oil shale to refineries may pose 

challenges because pipelines and major highways are not prolific in 

the remote areas where the oil shale is located, and the large-scale 

Challenges Presented 

by Future Oil Shale 

Development
 

Page 6 GAO-12-740T 

infrastructure that would be needed to supply power to heat the oil 

shale is lacking.

• Environmental impacts on water, air, and wildlife. Developing oil shale 

resources poses significant environmental challenges, particularly for 

water quantity and quality but also for air and wildlife.

• Water quantity. Oil shale development could have significant 

impacts on the quantity of surface and groundwater resources, but 

the magnitude of these impacts is unknown because of the 

technological uncertainties, and also because the size of a future 

oil shale industry is unknown, and knowledge of current water 

conditions and groundwater flow is limited. Developing oil shale 

and providing power for oil shale operations and other associated 

activities will require significant amounts of water, which could 

pose problems, particularly in the arid West where an expanding 

population is already placing additional demands on available 

water resources. For example, some analysts project that large 

scale oil shale development within Colorado could require more 

water than is currently supplied to over 1 million residents of the 

Denver metro area and that water diverted for oil shale operations 

would restrict agricultural and urban development. The potential 

demand for water is further complicated by the past decade of 

drought in the West and projections of a warming climate in the 

future. Current estimates of the quantities of water needed to 

support a future oil shale industry vary significantly depending 

upon the assumptions that are made. However, as our 2010 

report noted, while water is likely to be available for the initial 

development of an oil shale industry, the eventual size of the 

industry may be limited by the availability of water and demands 

for water to meet other needs of the region. Oil shale companies 

operating in Colorado and Utah will need to have water rights to 

develop oil shale, and representatives from all of the companies 

with whom we spoke for our 2010 report were confident that they 

held at least enough water rights for their initial projects and will 

likely be able to purchase more rights in the future. Sources of 

water for oil shale will likely be surface water in the immediate 

area, such as the White River, but groundwater could also be 

used. However, as we reported in 2010, the possibility of 

competing municipal and industrial demands for future water, a 

warming climate, future needs under existing compacts, and 

additional water needs for the protection of threatened and 

endangered fishes, may eventually limit the size of a future oil 

shale industry.
 

Page 7 GAO-12-740T 

• Water quality. While the water quantity impacts from oil shale 

development are difficult to precisely quantify at this time, 

hydrologists and engineers have been able to more definitively 

determine the water quality impacts that are likely because other 

types of mining, construction, and oil and gas development cause 

disturbances similar to impacts expected from oil shale 

development. According to these experts, in the absence of 

effective mitigation measures, impacts from oil shale development 

to water resources could result from (1) disturbances to the 

ground surface during the construction of roads and production 

facilities, which could result in the degradation of surface water 

quality from the related runoff of sediment, salts, and possible 

chemicals to nearby rivers and streams, (2) the withdrawal of 

water from streams and aquifers for oil shale operations, which 

could decrease flows downstream and temporarily degrade 

downstream water quality by depositing sediment during 

decreased flows, (3) underground mining and extraction, which 

would permanently impact aquifers by affecting groundwater flows 

through these zones, and (4) the discharge of waste waters from 

oil shale operations, which could temporarily increase water flows 

into receiving streams, thereby altering water quality and water 

temperature.

• Air. Construction and mining activities during the development of 

oil shale resources can temporarily degrade air quality in local 

areas. There can also be long-term regional increases in air 

pollutants from oil shale processing and the generation of 

additional electricity to power oil shale development operations. 

Pollutants, such as dust, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, can 

contribute to the formation of regional haze that can affect 

adjacent wilderness areas, national parks, and national 

monuments, which can have very strict air quality standards. 

Environmental impacts could also be compounded by the impacts 

of coal mining, construction, and extensive oil and gas 

development in the area, and air quality appears to be particularly 

susceptible to the cumulative effect of these development impacts. 

According to some environmental experts that we spoke to for our 

2010 report, air quality impacts may be the limiting factor for the 

development of a large oil shale industry in the future.

• Wildlife. Oil shale operations are likely to clear large surface areas 

of topsoil and vegetation, and as a result, some wildlife habitat will 

be lost. Important species likely to be negatively impacted from 

loss of wildlife habitat include mule deer, elk, sage grouse, and 
 

Page 8 GAO-12-740T 

raptors. Noise from oil shale operations, access roads, 

transmission lines, and pipelines can further disturb wildlife and 

fragment their habitat. Wildlife is also particularly susceptible to 

the cumulative effects of nearby industry development. In addition, 

the withdrawal of large quantities of surface water for oil shale 

operations could negatively impact aquatic life downstream of the 

oil shale development.

• Socioeconomic impacts. Large-scale oil shale development offers 

certain socioeconomic benefits outlined earlier, but it also poses some 

socioeconomic challenges. Oil shale development can bring a 

sizeable influx of workers, who along with their families, put additional 

stress on local infrastructure such as roads, housing, municipal water 

systems, and schools. As noted in our 2010 report, development from 

expansion of extractive industries, such as oil shale or oil and gas, 

has typically followed a “boom and bust” cycle, making planning for 

growth difficult for local governments. Furthermore, development of a 

future oil shale industry would have the potential to replace traditional 

rural uses by the industrial development of the landscape, and tourism 

that relies on natural resources, such as hunting, fishing, and wildlife 

viewing, could be negatively impacted.

Our 2010 report noted that current federal research efforts on the impacts 

of oil shale development do not provide sufficient data for future 

monitoring and that there is a greater need for collaboration among key 

stakeholders to address water resources and research issues related to 

oil shale development. As noted earlier, the federal government is in a 

unique position to influence the development of oil shale because 72 

percent of the oil shale within the Green River Formation lies beneath 

federal lands managed by BLM. In addition to its leasing of these lands, 

Interior has sponsored oil shale projects related to water resources—to 

develop a common repository of water data collected from the Piceance 

Basin and to begin monitoring groundwater quality and quantity within this 

basin using existing and future wells. The common repository project was 

funded jointly with Colorado cities and counties as well as with oil shale 

companies. DOE also plays an important role in developing these 

resources and has sponsored most of the oil shale research that involves 

water-related issues. DOE also provides technological and financial 

support for oil shale development, through its research and development 

efforts. However, our October 2010 report noted that Interior and DOE 

officials generally have not shared information on oil shale research and 

that there is a need for federal agencies to improve their efforts to 

Federal Agencies Can 

Proactively Take 

Actions to Prepare 

For Oil Shale 

Development
 

Page 9 GAO-12-740T 

collaborate and develop more comprehensive baseline information on the 

current condition of groundwater and surface water in these areas. Such 

information will be important for understanding the potential impacts of oil 

shale development on water resources in the region.

To prepare for possible impacts from the potential future development of 

oil shale, which industry experts believe is at least 15-20 years away, we 

made three recommendations in our October 2010 report to the Secretary 

of the Interior. We recommended that the Secretary direct BLM and 

USGS to

• establish comprehensive baseline conditions for groundwater and 

surface water quality, including their chemistry, and quantity in the 

Piceance and Uintah Basins to aid in the future monitoring of impacts 

from oil shale development in the Green River Formation;

• model regional groundwater movement and the interaction between 

groundwater and surface water, in light of aquifer properties and the 

age of groundwater, so as to help in understanding the transport of 

possible contaminants derived from the development of oil shale; and

• coordinate with DOE and state agencies with regulatory authority over 

water resources in implementing these recommendations, and to 

provide a mechanism for water-related research collaboration and 

sharing of results.

Interior fully supported the concepts in the report and agreed with the 

need to answer the science questions associated with commercial oil 

shale production prior to its development. In addition, Interior indicated 

that it already had begun to take some actions in response to our 

recommendations. For example, Interior told us that USGS is undertaking 

an analysis of baseline water resources conditions to improve the 

understanding of groundwater and surface water systems that could be 

affected by commercial-scale oil shale development. In addition, Interior 

stated that BLM and USGS are working to improve coordination with DOE 

and state agencies with regulatory authority over water resources and 

noted current ongoing efforts with state authorities.
 

Page 10 GAO-12-740T 

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, while there are potential opportunities for 

commercial development of large unconventional oil and gas resources, 

such as oil shale, in the United States, these opportunities must be 

balanced with other potential technological, environmental and 

socioeconomic challenges. The recommendations in our October 2010 

report on oil shale provide what we believe to be important next steps for 

federal agencies involved in the development of oil shale, particularly as it 

relates to water resources. By proactively improving collaboration 

between departments and state agencies and developing key baseline 

information the federal government can position itself to better monitor 

water resources and other environmental impacts should a viable oil 

shale industry develop in the future.

Chairman Harris, Ranking Member Miller, and Members of the 

Subcommittee, this completes my prepared statement. I would be 

pleased to respond to any questions that you may have at this time.

Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public 

Affairs may be found on the last page of this testimony. For further 

information about this testimony, please contact Anu K. Mittal, Director, 

Natural Resources and Environment team, (202) 512-3841 or 

mittala@gao.gov. In addition to the individual named above, key 

contributors to this testimony were Dan Haas (Assistant Director), 

Alison O’Neill, Barbara Timmerman, and Lisa Vojta.

Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments
Recent Related GAO Products 

Page 11 GAO-12-740T 

Department of Energy: Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy 

Could Benefit from Information on Applicants’ Prior Funding

(GAO-12-112, January 13, 2012).

Energy Development and Water Use: Impacts of Potential Oil Shale 

Development on Water Resources (GAO-11-929T, August 24, 2011).

Federal Oil and Gas: Interagency Committee Needs to Better Coordinate 

Research on Oil Pollution Prevention and Response (GAO-11-319, 

March 25, 2011).

Oil and Gas Leasing: Past Work Identifies Numerous Challenges with 

Interior’s Oversight (GAO-11-487T, March 17, 2011).

Oil and Gas Management: Key Elements to Consider for Providing 

Assurance of Effective Independent Oversight (GAO-10-852T, 

June 17, 2010).

Federal Oil and Gas Management: Opportunities Exist to Improve 

Oversight (GAO-09-1014T, September 16, 2009).

Oil and Gas Management: Federal Oil and Gas Resource Management 

and Revenue Collection In Need of Stronger Oversight and 

Comprehensive Reassessment (GAO-09-556T, April 2, 2009).

Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management: Oil Shale 

Management—General (GAO-09-214R, December 2, 2008).

Advanced Energy Technologies: Budget Trends and Challenges for 

DOE’s Energy R&D Program (GAO-08-556T, March 5, 2008).

Department of Energy: Oil and Natural Gas Research and Development 

Activities (GAO-08-190R, November 6, 2007).

Department of Energy: Key Challenges Remain for Developing and 

Deploying Advanced Energy Technologies to Meet Future Needs

(GAO-07-106, December 20, 2006).

Recent Related GAO Products
Recent Related GAO Products 

Page 12 GAO-12-740T 

Energy-Water Nexus report series

Energy-Water Nexus: Information on the Quantity, Quality, and 

Management of Water Produced during Oil and Gas Production

(GAO-12-156, January 9, 2012).

Energy-Water Nexus: Amount of Energy Needed to Supply, Use, and 

Treat Water Is Location-Specific and Can Be Reduced by Certain 

Technologies and Approaches (GAO-11-225, March 23, 2011). 

Energy-Water Nexus: A Better and Coordinated Understanding of Water 

Resources Could Help Mitigate the Impacts of Potential Oil Shale 

Development (GAO-11-35, October 29, 2010).

Energy-Water Nexus: Many Uncertainties Remain about National and 

Regional Effects of Increased Biofuel Production on Water Resources

(GAO-10-116, November 30, 2009).

Energy-Water Nexus: Improvements to Federal Water Use Data Would 

Increase Understanding of Trends in Power Plant Water Use 

(GAO-10-23, October 16, 2009).

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