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The federal government says it now has the key people in place to evaluate legal challenges over oil shale decisions, but they still need to be brought up to speed on the matter.

As a result, the Obama administration is requesting a fourth extension of its deadline to respond to lawsuits challenging oil shale actions taken by the Bush administration.

… The government faces an Aug. 31 deadline to answer conservation groups’ lawsuits.

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Oil companies have amassed more than 250 water rights for oil-shale development, giving them a key share of the flow of the Colorado River and the White River, according to a Western Resource Advocates study.

Many of the water rights are also more senior than those held by Front Range water suppliers, and that could hamper plans to bring more water over the mountains for towns and cities, the study said.

"Large-scale oil-shale development could create problems for us and other users," said Denver Water manager Chips Barry.

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A high priority, we hope, will be a reversal of rules governing oil shale deposits on nearly 2 million acres of public lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

As a senator, he said the Bush administration rules set royalty rates that amounted to a "pittance." During a meeting Thursday with The Post's editorial board, he spoke generally about the wisdom of moving in a "thoughtful and deliberate way" on oil shale.

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Meanwhile, already-parched Western states bracing for more growth are completing water supply inventories. A Colorado study projected that by 2050, with the state's oil shale operations at full capacity, the industry will require 14 times more power than currently generated by the state's largest power plant.

…The governors of Colorado and Wyoming have expressed concerns about the venture's effect on water in their states.

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...Chase Huntley, energy policy advisor for The Wilderness Society, said the regulations are meant to give the impression that oil shale development could lower gasoline prices.

“But practical and technological impediments cannot be overcome by fiat,” he said in a statement. “Instead of gambling our resources on unproven fuel sources, such as oil shale, we should invest in proven options that will reduce prices such as higher fuel economy standards, energy efficiency and renewable generation technologies.”