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U.S. Department of Energy
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Use of brackish ground water resources for regional energy center development, Tularosa Basin, New Mexico: preliminary evaluation

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7097646

New Mexico shares with most other Rocky Mountain and High Plains states prodigious energy resources essential for meeting future national and regional demands for energy. However, development of those resources will require use of water resources that are already over-appropriated in virtually every western state--water resources that often are equally necessary for balanced, indigenous economic growth. As a measure of the increasing demand on western water resources, the Western States Water Council estimates that by 1990 energy production in the region will require an increased annual commitment of approximately 2.3 to 3.1 million acre-ft of water. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the growing knowledge about the feasibility of energy centers, particularly in relation to utilization of hitherto unallocated and mainly unusable groundwater in the Western States. Specifically the suitability of the Tularosa Basin in south-central New Mexico as the site for a regional energy center is studied. The center is assumed to be primarily nuclear with varying potentials for fossil, solar, geothermal, and wind energy-generating facilities. The analysis also considers anticipated socio-economic and environmental impact on the region.

Research Organization:
Federal Energy Administration, Washington, DC (USA)
OSTI ID:
7097646
Report Number(s):
FEA/G-77/101
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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