From: Denver Post
When I look through my faded, fraying family albums and look at the generations of mamas, papas, brothers and sisters who have made a life for themselves in the West, I often imagine the difficulties and challenges they have confronted.
I have often wondered how, for hundreds of years, our ancestors were able to overcome those obstacles, sustain our families and provide for children.
It is then I realize that what helped my ancestors survive and establish a proud heritage here in the West is the exact same precious resource that sustains my family and the lives of millions across the West today: Colorado River water that cuts across vast swaths of our the West.
The Colorado River is truly the lifeblood of the West. It runs through our blood like our songs and our culture. Growing up Latino in the West, the teaching from my ancestors that we must not squander this precious resource weighs heavy on me now.
Every year, the great river faces more and more pressures that imperil its future. Amid growing populations in states like Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado and demands for more water, the river also faces the twin dangers of chronic drought and dryer weather. .
At risk is drinking water for millions of people who live in the dry, arid West.
Despite the numerous threats facing the Colorado River, yet another major danger looms: water-intensive efforts to pull oil from rock-solid oil shale formations in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
For almost a century, the oil companies have tried to transform oil shale rocks in these states into liquid oil. Yet they were never been able to sustain commercial production.
That’s because unlocking oil shale — which never underwent the geologic pressures or heat that produced liquid oil — is difficult.
And to do that requires a substantial amount of water.
Today, Shell, Exxon and Chevron and other companies are probing oil shale research in the mountains of Colorado but they have declined to reveal specifics about how much water their oil shale extraction technologies may consume. Independent analyses by the federal government and others, however, raise serious concerns.
Estimates from the Bureau of Land Management, the Rand Corporation and the Government Accountability Project generally suggest that commercial oil shale development could require as much as 375,000 acre feet of water every year. By comparison, that is almost 50% more than 1.3 million metro Denver area residents consumed last year.
It’s likely that much of the water necessary to drive commercial oil shale development will come from tributaries and streams that feed the Colorado River, as well as the river itself — the critical resource that binds all of our lives together here in the West. Amid potential water shortages and increasing pressures on the river, is that the right thing to do?
Right now, we don’t know. We just don’t have the answers. It is right that the Bureau of Land Management, in its latest plan for oil shale and tar sands, is asking companies to answer those questions before they are given access to more lands for commercial development. From my view, it is only right that if these companies are going to use the water they tell our communities how much they are using and for what. I work hard not to waste water, and these companies need to tell us if they are using up large amounts of water at our expense.
The fate of the Colorado may hang in the balance.
And if that happens, so does the well being of communities across the state. I hope that our children and grandchildren are able to stay here where we have raised them and look out over thriving Western communities as they flip through those same tattered family albums. That will require that the same care I was taught is taken with our water.
Dr. Urioste was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000 and has been a leading voice for children in our state.
Read more:Guest Commentary: Oil shale, the Colorado River and the lifeblood of the West – The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_20630064/guest-commentary-oil-shale-colorado-river-and-lifeblood#ixzz1v8iBInxW
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