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Implementation Plan Broadening the Competitive Base The authorities provided by the 1995 amendments (P,L. 104-20) should N> allow Reclamation to improve the salinity control program's effectiveness by .... expanding the range of salinity control alternatives into new areas and new ~ methods, ...:t The original program pioneered two key concepts, The salinity program was one of the first nonpoint source control programs in the country. The second pioneering concept was to employ a basinwide approach to water quality improvement, The 1974 Act authorized what were then the most likely areas for salinity control within the Colorado River Basin (Basin), However, experience has proven that unforeseen opportunities will continue to be found in the future that could improve the program's effectiveness, Reclamation needs to have the flexibility and authority to pursue these opportunities as they arise-wherever that may be in the Basin, Within most project areas, a range of opportunities usually exist-some cost effective, others not, Experience in implementing the salinity control program has shown that canal and lateral lining can be cost effective, but it is highly variable, Differences in geology and salt loading can drastically affect costs and effectiveness, For example, more than 20 increments were evaluated in the Grand Valley Unit, of which fewer than 10 of the best were sufficiently cost effective to actually implement, Reclamation was directed by the 1984 amendments to implement cost- effective solutions but was limited to the areas and methods specifically authorized for implementation by the 1974 Act and 1984 amendments, Within each of the authorized units, only the most cost-effective portions of each unit have been implemented; but not all of the potential alternatives were authorized by the 1974 Act or the 1984 amendments, With the basinwide authority provided by P,L, 104-20 in the 1995 amend- ments, Reclamation can now, through direct competition, implement a much wider range of alternatives throughout the entire Colorado River Basin, Reclamation will no longer be limited to the five relatively small areas authorized by earlier legislation nor by the methods specified by the legislation, Broadening the methods and areas of competition should improve the effectiveness of the salinity control program, Development of Ranking Procedures Until more thorough studies were completed in the early 1990's, the value of salinity control was not fully quantified, Early attempts in the 1970's roughly estimated the value at about $50 per ton, but this early estimate was acknowledged to have missed large classes of impacts, Even now, the economic impacts to the Republic of Mexico have not been quantified and, 8