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. . . W N CHAPTER I CD ~ INTRODUCTION Administration of the Investigation As was pointed out .earlier, the directive for performing the study came from the Congress of the United States through the Secretary of the Interior; The Water and Power Resources Service under'the direction of its Commissitlnei is responsible to the Secretary fortheperftlrmance of the study. theCommis~ sioner has in turn charged the Director of the Upper Colorado Region of Water and Power to supervise the study. Technical direction and assistance is to be supplied by Water and Power's Colorado River Water Quality'Office at ,theEngi~ neering and Research (E&R) Center in Denver, Colorado. Program performance, including all field level work and coordination between government; private, and contract entities, will be done by Water and Power's Grand Junction Pro- jects Office under the supervision of the ProJects Manager. Description-of Study Area The Glenwood-Dotsero Springs Unit is located in Garfield ~nd Eagle Counties of western Colorado. The contributing area lies in a narrow canyon along the Colorado River between the small town of New Castle and the unincorporated community of Dotsero. The city of Glenwood Springs lies within the canyon about 13 miles east of New Castle and 18 miles west of Dotsero. The Eagle River enters the Colorado River at Dotsero and the Roaring Fork'River enters at G1enwood Springs. The search for treatment and disposal sites may encom- pass a considerably larger area. Interstate Highway 70 extends from New Castle toa point about a mile" east of G1enwood Springs. From this point to Dotsero cOIistruction tlfthe interstate has been delayed and the area is served by U.S. Highway 6 'and 24. Colorado State Highway 82 extends south and east from Glenwood Springs. The climate of the area is semiarid 'with cool pleasant summers and cold winters. The average annual precipitation at Glenwooa Springs for the 195'0- 1970 period was 18 inches and the average annual temperature was48~ F. ' The economy of the Glenwood Springs-Dotsero area is supported by trade from the surrounding agricultural areas and by tourism and recreation. The area is noted for its recreational opportunities which are based around exist- ing scenic characteristics and development of some of the hot springs. Several recreation sites are available in G1enwood Canyon for hiking and picnicking. Side canyons entering G1enwood Canyon also have natural and scenic value. Previous Investigations The Glenwood-Dotsero Springs area was included as part of a water quality study of the entire Colorado River system by the Federal Water Pollution Con- trol Administration between 1963 and 1970. The results of this study were published in 1971 by the Environmental Protection Agency under the title of Mineral Quality Problems in the Colorado River Basin. 4 ( " ; <J b,' , ; '.I ,i~~