The potential impacts of energy development on water resources in the yampa river basin

Efforts to formulate a national energy policy have focused considerable attention on coal development. The coal resources in the western states are substantial and offer the potential for making an important contribution to energy self-sufficiency. To what extent this potential can be realized depends in part on the available water resources for sup­ porting a coal-based industry. On an aggregate scale, the nation’s water resources could support very large-scale exploitation of coal. But on a more local scale where coal mining and conversion would actually be located, water-related problems might arise. This might well be the case in those locales where there would be conflicting water interests such as water for energy versus water for agriculture. Also, fish and wildlife constitute a resource whose exploitation or preservation may pose addition­ al conflicting demands on the uses of water.