Aggregate water resources for large-scale energy development in the Upper Colorado River Basin

M.S. Isaacson

Energy, 1986, vol. 11, issue 3, 281-292

Abstract: This paper addresses the question of whether or not a large (significant in national terms) energy recovery industry can be developed in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), alongside more traditional water use, without causing a problem in the aggregate quantity of water supplied to the Lower Colorado River Basin. On the demand side, aggregate water consumption in the UCRB due to water-intensive energy industry is predicted as a function of the level of energy production. Total UCRB water consumption can then be found by adding to the energy-related water use all nonenergy-related consumption. On the supply side, aggregate water availability is determined from the results of a steady-state, stochastic hydrologic model which predicts the reliability of flow to the lower basin as a function of total UCRB consumption. Demand and supply are then presented together in a graphical form which allows the reader to determine for himself the allowable level of energy development in the UCRB, depending on the levels he chooses for nonenergy-related water consumption in the upper basin and the reliability of water supply to the lower basin.

Date: 1986
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0360544286900861
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:11:y:1986:i:3:p:281-292

DOI: 10.1016/0360-5442(86)90086-1

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().