This report examines the region of the Piceance Creek basin in Colorado so that the United States Bureau of Mines may develop plans for an underground oil-shale research facility in the center of the basin. It includes maps, charts, and graphs.

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.

Purpose and scope: This report describes a preliminary reconnaissance of the water-bearing properties of the Mississippian Leadville Limestone in the western part of the White River Uplift (synonymous with the White River Plateau). The purpose of this preliminary investigation is to determine areas of the Leadville Limestone suitable for exploratory drilling and testing at relatively shallow depths to confirm the quality of water in storage.

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.