WSP08880

• File Number: 8277.500.10
• Description: Price and San Rafael Basin Unit - Colorado River Water Quality Improvement Program
• State: UT
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 3/1/1986
• Title: Evaluation of the Incremental Cost Effectiveness of Building a Combined Pressurized Sprinkler Irrigation System to Reduce Salt Loading to the Colorado River
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Chapter II

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Salt-loading

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Bureau of Reclamation Estimates

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During the initial phase of the Price-San Rafael Rivers Unit Salinity

Investigation, water quality and streamflow data were evaluated from many

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sources such as, STORET, WATSTOR, U.S. Bureau of ~eclamation monitoring sta-

tions, the 208 Water Quality Management Plan, numerous interviews, and litera-

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ture review of hundreds of documents.

Eased upon this initial phase, it was

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determined that in the Price River Basin 18 percent of the salinity originates

from the mountain runoff, 61 percent from the irrigated agricultural area, and

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21 percent from natural runoff in the desert rangeland area. The results were

similar for the San Rafael River Basin with 15, 60, and 25 percent, respec-

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tively, coming from the mountains, agricultural area, and desert rangeland.

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Based upon these results, the major emphasis of the field verification activ-

ities were centered around the irrigated agricultural land use area. The two

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river basins were divided into eight sub-basins and a plan formulated for

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collecting data to construct water and salt balances around each sub-basin.

Between May 1982 and March 1983, the following types of data were collected.

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- Streamflow and water quality data

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- Irrigation canal diversion data

- Canal seepage measurements

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- Ground water depth and quality data

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