Water on the Rocks: Oil Shale Water Rights in Colorado
Vast Quantities of Water Already Locked-up by Oil Shale Interests
In a groundbreaking study, Western Resource Advocates catalogued all the water rights that have been acquired by oil shale interests, or could be used by them, to develop oil shale on a commercial scale. The volume of both water and rights is staggering.
The Report:
The report is available in its entirety or may be viewed in individual sections. Interactive maps detailing the location,ownership and other pertintent information about these water rights are also posted on this site. Additional information about oil shale is available through the oil shale links page.
- "Water on the Rocks: Oil Shale Water Rights in Colorado" full report (96 page, 3.6MB .pdf)
- "Water on the Rocks" Overview (10 pages, 912KB .pdf)
Individual sections of "Water on the Rocks" report:
- Foreword: "Why This Analysis Matters" by Karin P. Sheldon WRA Executive Director (419KB .pdf)
- Executive Summary (84KB .pdf)
- Introduction (623 KB .pdf)
- Water for Oil Shale Development (90KB .pdf)
- Water Rights for Oil Shale (1.68MB .pdf)
- A Closer Look at Water Rights for Oil Shale(299KB .pdf)
- Key Implications and Limitations on Water Development for Oil Shale (567KB .pdf)
- Conclusion (81KB .pdf)
- Appendix A: Chronological Development of Conditional Water Rights for Oil Shale Development (194KB .pdf)
- Appendix B: Conditional Water Rights for Oil Shale Development (138 KB .pdf)
- Appendix C: Irrigation Ditches Purchased by Energy Companies (120KB .pdf)
- Appendix D: Colorado River - Absolute Wells and Springs (86 KB .pdf)
- Appendix E: Comparing Selected Oil Shale and Non-Oil Shale Conditional Rights in the Colorado River Basin (109KB .pdf)
- Glossary of Terms (72KB .pdf)
- End Notes (90KB .pdf)
- Two-page Report Summary (154KB .pdf)
Oil shale is problematic resource on a number of levels. Of particular concern to Colorado, home to the richest known deposits of oil shale, is the very large quantity of water that will be required in all phases of oil shale production. The climate of the Piceance Basin, where the shale resources are found, ranges from semi-arid to arid (desert). Water is a scarce commodity. The Piceance Basin is part of the larger Colorado River Basin, a watershed that one out of every twelve Americans depends on, at least in part, for their water supply.
Piceance Basin in Relation to the State of Colorado
A broad array of companies own over 200 water rights in Garfield and Rio Blanco counties to divert water from both the mainstem of the Colorado River and the White River basins. These rights range from conditional water rights for direct flow diversions and storage to perfected water rights purchased from agricultural water users and leased back to them until a time when the water will be needed for oil shale operations.
Interactive maps providing detailed infomation about the water rights owned by, or that could be used for, oil shale can be accessed from this page.