Show Shale oil worried White River dam delayed A delay in building the White River Dam has little affect on the mining plans of White River Shale on Oil Corp a company official said Tuesday Its not a devastating blow said Jack Lyman White River Corp director of external affairs I dont don't see any slackening of commitment by the State of Utah The executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources Resources- and Energy Temple A Reynolds announced Friday that the building schedule was changed because or of delayed plans by other synthetic fuels projects Lyman said the high water demand of the White River project wont won't occur until 1988 In the meantime wells drilled in the area will satisfy water demand he added The White River Corp mining tracts are about 45 miles southeast of Vernal Lyman expressed concern about the lack of a time table for developing and building of an alternative method for bringing water to the tracts The US Army Corps of Engineers has to approve the project The The White River Dam remains a akey akey key element In the states state's water resource plans said Reynolds through a news release Revisions In various company schedules have relieved the urgency in beginning the dam construction and now give the state more time to obtain permits and resolve land acquisition questions At the same time the state will pursue vigorously the federal permitting and licensing for this vital project said Reynolds A construction start can reasonably be expected in two years In the meantime the state intends to work with project developers to ensure short short- term water needs are met Reynolds added The Board of Water Resources authorized the project and listed it as a major maior prof to receive the 1978 state water bond funds The dam will develop a reservoir 11 miles long with a capacity of approximately acre feet of water The project will yield approxImately approximately feet acre of water an an- an annually for consumptive use and generate 40 million hours an- an annually an of electricity In the hydro hydro- hydroelectric hydroelectric electric plant Current estimates of the construction cost for the dam and the power plant total 33 million Negotiations continue with the Ute Indian Tribe for acres of land at the reservoir site The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission continues review ott e power plant application according to the Department of Natural Resources That permit will be issued In about a year according to the department We are going to continue negotiating with the state for pre p purchase of water said lyman The dam announcement wasn't a surprise he added Two other olber oil projects wait for funds The Ute project has applied for funds from the US Synthetics Fuels Corp Tosco Corp Exxon's partner in the abandoned Colony project in Colorado watts waits to develop funds from private sources We need to anticipate and make the right decision said Lyman T at is why White River Corp is anxious to know whether another source source-of w water ter will be needed he added One alternative is a pipeline from Crom the Green River to the north which would be about 34 miles long according to Lyman It would be expensive and time consuming The dam is the preferred alternative But if the dam Isn't there we need some other source of water Weve been working closely with the state Lyman added Department of Natural spokesman Ron Ollis said environmental tal issues were not a factor in the deci deci- deci decision sion to delay building The dam could be built without the hydroelectric plant he said The lapse in oil firms plans would allow the whole thing to come together at once Were pretty much past the en en- en Ollis said The Utah Division of Water Resources and the US l Fish ish and Wildlife Service agreed to work on a conservation plan for the Colorado in accordance with en en- en environmental impact statement recommendations recommendations |