User:Friendsoftheupa/sandbox

The UPA is a partially defined and largely unexplored aquifer located in Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and Wyoming. The UPA is in the upper portion of the Pierre Shale Formation below the transition zone of the Fox Hills Formation (the bottom of the Denver Basin aquifer system). It is a fine-grained sandstone, siltstone with thickness ranging up to 1000 feet in some areas. Wells installed in the aquifer produce between 100 and 200 gallons per minute.

Based on the significant data that has been collected and examined, the following is an approximate calculation of the amount of groundwater within Colorado that is available in the UPA.

7,994,266 (acres) x 673 feet (average saturated thickness)1 x 5% (specific yield) = 269,007,051 acre feet.

Using a 100-year aquifer life this equates to 2,690,070 acre feet per year that could be potentially available within Colorado.

The UPA is a large source of water available for northeastern Colorado. Agricultural users can use this resource for mixing of pesticides and herbicides and stock water without treatment. When treated, it can be used for municipal and irrigation use. The Counties that overly the UPA in Colorado are Weld, Morgan, Logan, Phillips, parts of Larimer, Adams, Washington, Yuma, and Sedgwick.