From the Pagosa Sun (Jim McQuggin):
Meeting with town and county officials last week, representatives from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) — part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy — concluded a two-day visit to Pagosa Springs by telling local officials that, while future research is warranted, initial indications suggest a vast resource with almost unlimited potential. “There are a huge amount of resources,” said Gerald Huttrer, president of the Geothermal Management Company, Inc. and consultant for NREL. “The resource is way, way bigger than anybody had anticipated.”
That knowledge, said Elaine Wood, former Pagosa Springs resident and a consultant on clean energy projects with NREL, “Takes away the fear of scarcity.”[…]
The result of the visit and subsequent analysis of the Great Pagosa Aquifer, all three agreed, was a surprising view of a resource that had been previously viewed by many as a limited pool at risk of depletion. Not only did all three concur that ample resources existed for further possible use, but that processes could be employed to replenish geothermal water taken out of the aquifer. Calling Pagosa Springs a “pump and dump” community (meaning that geothermal water is currently dumped into the river after using it for heating), Lund proposed that future production wells be accompanied by injection wells — the means to put water back into the aquifer after drawing it up for heating or other purposes. While Lund stated that the aquifer contains ample amounts of water, injection wells would ensure adequate levels — as well as provide a psychological assurance that little danger exists of depleting the geothermal water. Huttrer added that reinjection would not alter the aggregate temperature of the aquifer. Comparing the reinjection process to trying to cool a hot bath with a drop of cold water, Hettrer said, “A 10 to 20 degree change (in reinjected water) relative to the amount of water (in the aquifer) would be immeasurable.”
From the San Juan Silver Stage Online:
The magma-heated Great Pagosa Hot Springs draws its name from the Utes who, after frequent skirmishes with other tribes and (legend has it) a decisive knife fight, eventually claimed the springs as their own. They called it “Pah gosah,” The term is open to loose interpretation. According to local lore, the name has been variously translated in recent years as meaning “boiling water” or “healing water.” However, a Ute elder once suggested that a more accurate translation would be “water that has a strong smell.” The sulphur-like odor comes from the water’s high concentration of hydrogen sulfide. For centuries, long before the white man came, the Utes and other Native Americans availed themselves of the mineral-rich water’s curative powers for multiple ailments. Some uses were rather imaginative. For instance, young warriors suffering from adolescent skin eruptions treated them by coating the offensive spots with the mineral rich mud.
The practice was later repeated by cowboys sparking a lady when the white man first came to the area and cattle ranching, and along with lumbering, was the economic backbone of Pagosa Springs. The cowboys often brought their horses to heal sore hooves in the warm, soothing mud after a long cattle drive. (The Indians did that too, supposedly bathing first the men, then the horses and last, the women!) But mostly, it was people who sought healing from the springs. Following the Civil War, and in conjunction with a world view that considered mineral baths a curative for all sorts of ailments, the Pagosa Springs became a popular spot for those suffering from arthritis, rheumatism, intestinal problems and more. It still is.
The Mother Spring dates back to as much as ten million years ago, when it was formed by volcanic activity that helped form what is now the San Juan Mountains. Nobody knows how deep it is, although several have tried to find out over the last century or two—none with much success. According to The Springs Resort, The Springs’ retained hydrologist coated an aluminum boat in foam, paddled out to the center of the pool and tested its depths with a sounding device. At 1500 feet, the device floated back up, buoyed by the hot water and hotter gasses streaming up from the Pagosa Aquifer below. So, it may very well be the deepest hot springs in the world. The water contains heavy concentrations of sulfate, sodium (no wonder we floated), chloride, potassium, silica and magnesium.