MEIS: NATURAL TREASURES LIE BENEATH THE GROUND AS WELL AS ABOVE
Mesa County’s Energy Master Plan protects environment, promotes economic well-being
The natural beauty of Western Colorado is unique. It offers an unequaled experience for visitors and locals alike.
Another treasure lies beneath the surface of this diverse and rugged region. The natural resources of coal, oil shale, and natural gas, offer strength to the economic vitality of the area. Energy development in Mesa County, Colorado has the potential to enrich, stabilize, and diversify the regional economy in countless ways.
This potential was evidenced in 2005 when Mesa County enjoyed a mini-energy boom. However, along with jobs and revenue came other local conditions for which the county was ill-prepared, such as housing shortages, large influxes of students into local schools, and increased traffic on surface streets and highways.
Local governments already have master plans for community development, so it only made sense that during this boom, Mesa County addressed these issues by drafting an ‘Energy Master Plan.’
Although changes in the national economy and environmental regulations have since dampened the growth in energy development, Mesa County’s resources are still under the ground, waiting to be extracted, and the Energy Master Plan provides the blueprint for development that will protect the environment and promote the economic well-being of citizens.
The constitutional role of the county — as enumerated in Colorado and many other states — in the extraction of energy resources serves as a statutory basis for the Energy Master Plan.
Environmental considerations such as drilling in and near watersheds are addressed. Zoning and property issues are examined as well. The relationships between the county and federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — which can have a significant impact on the development of natural resources — also play an important role in the composition of the Energy Master Plan.
Mesa County’s ‘Energy Master Plan’ was the first of its kind in the nation, and is formulated on principles and ideas that are not limited to any particular time period or set of circumstances. It was devised with several objectives in mind:
• To identify and develop abundant natural resources
This plan outlines how these objectives can be achieved concurrently and in a way that fosters the short and long-term viability of the county. These qualities are what makes Mesa County’s Energy Master Plan a model that can be easily adopted by other counties and locales across the United States. Its practical functions are adaptable to all forms of energy in varying regions which have diverse local conditions. This approach includes several steps:
Resource and Sensitivities Inventory
Online Mapping Tool
The development and implementation of an Energy Master Plan is a process which ensures that policy decisions are based on real science and the actual economic and environmental impact on a particular region.
The Energy Master Plan recognizes the role of government and the rights of the people when it comes to the sometimes volatile issues surrounding the development of America’s natural resources. This plan is a model that can benefit every city, county, and region in the United States whose natural treasures lie beneath the ground as well as above.
Craig Meis, PE, is a chemical engineer with over twenty years experience in the field of environmental compliance, and eight years as a county commissioner in Mesa County.