[Born to Conserve]

https://maps.google.com/maps?safe=off&q=36.59844,-108.211327&output=classic&dg=oo

There’s a huge agricultural irrigation system right under the plume. It’s the only thing out there. They’re pumping water out of an aquifer that is saturated with natural gas.

But I guess they have grants to spend, so the satellites, airplanes, and trucks will be crisscrossing the area for years to come.

[CedarDave]

There’s a huge agricultural irrigation system right under the plume. It’s the only thing out there. They’re pumping water out of an aquifer that is saturated with natural gas.

That the Navajo nation's agricultural project. It uses only surface water from Navajo Dam on the San Juan River. Their is a system of canals and pumps that deliver it to the fields. Infiltration from the irrigation dissolves minerals in the soil and seepage enters the deep arroyos that bisect the flat surface fields. This salty water enters the San Juan River and is transported down stream to Lake Powell and further. Nothing here releases significant methane.

Also, coal mined for both the Four Corners and San Juan Power plants is from surface mining or dry underground coal seam.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I thought irrigation in that area came from Navajo Dam, diverted to Cutter Dam then sent to the Navajo Rez. south of Bloomfield.