Miller, Bart --- "Oil Shale and Water" [2011] ELECD 1023; in Kenney, S. Douglas; Wilkinson, Robert (eds), "The Water–Energy Nexus in the American West" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: The Water–Energy Nexus in the American West

Editor(s): Kenney, S. Douglas; Wilkinson, Robert

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849809368

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Oil Shale and Water

Author(s): Miller, Bart

Number of pages: 12

Extract:

4. Oil shale and water
Bart Miller1

4.1. INTRODUCTION

The nation's most concentrated deposits of oil shale rest in northwestern
Colorado. Further deposits of oil shale, as well as tar sands, lie in a larger
region that also includes portions of northeastern Utah and southwestern
Wyoming. For over a century, commercial ventures to tap oil shale as
a fuel source have repeatedly ended in failure. Proponents suggest that
oil shale, sedimentary rock which contains extractable hydrocarbons, is
critical to meeting our future energy needs. Skeptics say it is a perpetual
mirage. Most agree its development raises many issues: political, eco-
nomic, and environmental.
A key issue in the extraction of fuel from oil shale and tar sands is
the demand for water. Especially in western states, increasing demands
for water strain a scarce (and shrinking) supply. Water in the West has
long been used to meet mining, agriculture, hydropower and urban
demands. Additionally, in recent decades there has been an increas-
ing awareness of water's irreplaceable role providing non-consumptive
benefits, including instream uses for recreation and the environment.
These instream values have their own intrinsic benefits but also drive
a growing economic sector. Expenditures on fishing in interior western
states (not including the coastal states of Washington, Oregon and
California) in 2006 exceeded $2.9 billion (US Fish & Wildlife Service
[FWS], 2006). Over the past decade, commercial white-water rafting
in Colorado alone generated approximately $130 million annually in
direct and indirect revenue (Colorado River Outfitters ...