Document Type

Report

Publication Date

January 1978

Abstract

Introduction: The impact on agriculture of a large coal-fired stream electic plant (such as the proposed Intermountain Power Project near Lynndyl, Utah) or a large nuclear electic plant (such as proposed for the Green River Site near Emery, Utah) depends on a large number of factors. Among the most important are the technology used in power plant design, the site-characteristics of the plant location, the availability of water resources in the vicinity of the plant, the quality of the available water, and the types of agricultural uses and their water requirements. Some of these factors can be defined by obtaining information for a given site, and others are determined by decisions made during plant design. The agricultural impacts estimated here are based on the results of completed research and available site information. The results of completed research and available site information. The results are given as a range from a minimum impact based on selection of a cooling technology requireing as little water as reasonable to a maximum impact based on selection of a technology using much more water. Both the minimum and maximum impacts estimated are probably on the high side because of very conservative assumptions made with respect to farmer reaction. The influence of the selected cooling technology on the impacts suggests the desireability of considering potential impacts during design so as to choose a technology having more 'favorable consequences.'

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