Coal resources of southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservations, Colorado and New Mexico

The Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservations, in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico, are underlain by coal in three formations of Late Cretaceous age. The Dakota Sandstone contains an estimated 11,733 million tons, the Menefee Formation 13,969 million tons, and the Fruitland Formation 25,331 million tons. About 471 million tons, mostly Fruitland coal, is mineable by stripping or augering. Water required for the most likely development of the coal is as much as 18,300 acre feet per year. Some of the remainder of the coal reserve may be mineable eventually, and would require far greater amounts of water.