GREEN RIVER - Towns and cities in southwest Wyoming's Green River Basin are facing increasing pressures from nearby oil and gas field development, years of drought and predictions of continued population growth.

The upshot is they'll eventually need more water to consume. But how best to protect and preserve the basin's water resource for future generations?

State and local water officials took another step in their effort to solve some of those looming water issues Wednesday during a meeting of the Green River Basin Advisory Group.

State officials have charged the group with developing a new strategic plan - known as the Green River Basin Plan 2 - to help shape future basin planning efforts over the next few decades.

In 1999, the Wyoming Water Development Commission began establishing advisory groups for each of the state's seven river basins as part of an overall effort to develop a new state water plan. A final water plan for the Green River Basin was completed in 2001 by the advisory group.

Much of the plan focused on gathering data, but the plan also concluded that there is water to develop in the basin and that water storage or other supplies that can be delivered on demand may offer potential revenue for the state.

The Green River Plan 2 "will deliver a final, knockout blow to actually make that first plan useful," project leader Chase Tavelli told advisory group members, various area water officials and others during the crowded meeting.

"We want (this document) to help you understand better how to help yourselves … We want to try and give you pathways to accomplish your mission and help you find the best way to solving your (water) issues," said Tavelli, a planner with the Wyoming Water Development Commission's Cheyenne office.

Framework plan

Tavelli said final basin plans were completed last year by various advisory groups for all seven river basins in the state. The seven basin plans were incorporated into a larger, statewide water framework plan completed earlier this year.

"What came out of that (framework) plan was the need to focus on groundwater," Tavelli said.

Because groundwater data can be limited in parts of the state, officials decided to place emphasis on gathering groundwater data for the second round of basin plans. The Green River Basin Plan 2 has been separated into two projects, one study emphasizing groundwater and the other surface water.

The Legislature appropriated $600,000 for the development of the Green River Basin Plan 2, which will be split evenly between the two studies.

Water Development Commission officials said the Green River Basin was the first basin selected for the next planning step, in part because of the region's ongoing oil and gas boom and the increasing demands for water in southwest Wyoming.

Members of the Green River, Sweetwater County, Rock Springs Joint Powers Water Board - which supplies water to the two cities and some outlying areas from the Green River - said their water demand is certainly rising.

Officials said they expect to see lower and slower flows in the Green River in the future, which could affect future water use.

Board member Brian Seppie said the board has seen a steady increase in total water use in Rock Springs and Green River since the basin's final water plan was completed in 2001. He said there's been an approximately 9 percent per year increase since then.

"The bottom line is our usage is increasing … and based on trends and the economic indicators from the oil and gas development, we see no reason for that to change," he said.

No construction

The Green River Basin is one of the few areas left in Wyoming that has water to develop and the land necessary to build additional dams and reservoirs. Wyoming also has water rights in the Green River that have not been exercised.

Many officials in the region believe more storage is needed, particularly for irrigators and for towns and communities such as Pinedale, Green River, Rock Springs, Kemmerer and Big Piney.

But other areas in Wyoming and other states also have their eye on Green River Basin water.

In 2003, state water officials announced their intention to determine if it's feasible to move water from the Green River to the North Platte River by pipeline and at what cost.

And last year, a Colorado entrepreneur proposed piping water from the Green River to the booming Colorado Front Range and perhaps to a portion of eastern Wyoming as well.

WWC Engineering Inc. project consultant Murray Schroeder said the Plan 2 study aims to develop "strategic plans beyond data collection" and act as a "roadmap" to address basin water problems.

He emphasized, however, "we're not doing specific project planning or the construction" of dams, reservoirs, transbasin pipelines, or other storage and water transportation projects.

Instead, the plan will focus "on what actions (the advisory group) should consider to meet its goals … its future projected needs and how it can use its water wisely," Schroeder said.

Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@tribcsp.com.