The Piceance Basin in Colorado contains an estimated 600 trillion cu ft of natural gas in place. Both the Rulison and Rio Blanco events have been detonated to determine the feasibility of nuclear fracturing to stimulate natural gas production in this basin. A demonstration program to test the relative effectiveness of massive hydraulic fracturing (MHF) to achieve natural gas production stimulation from the same gas reservoir is presented. Details are included on MHF design parameters, including surface and subsurface equipment, pumping requirements, evaluation of fracturing results, and all associated test programs; site characteristics and preparation; proposal for gas utilization program; environmental surveillance and comparative analysis of environmental aspects of MHF and nuclear stimulation; gas delivery estimates; project administration; and costs and scheduling.

From introduction: The investigations on which the greater part of this report is based were carried on by E. T. Hancock, the senior author, during the summer of 1911. They were undertaken by the United States Geological Survey under a comprehensive plan for collecting information about the undeveloped fuel resources of the Western States, both as a step toward the conservation of the coal resources of the United States and as a means of supplying the demand for information concerning the many valuable coal fields of the Western States.

This report presents a "digital model used to simulate ground-water flow in the aquifer system in a basin drained by Piceance and Yellow Creeks, Colorado." It includes maps, diagrams, and tables.