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Salinity Control Opportunities Reclamation has completed construc~ion of a series of wells on both sides of the Dolores River to intercept the brine before it reaches the river, The tv brine will be mixed with fresh water to prevent scaling and injected into a (Jt 16,000-foot-deep disposal well. The facility should be capable of ~ 128,000 tons per year of salt disposal. Q") Price-San Rafael Rivers Unit The Price-San Rafael Rivers Unit is located in east-central Utah, 120 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, encompassing Carbon and Emery Counties, Agriculture and energy development (primarily coal mining) make up the principal economic base in the area, Both the Price and San Rafael Rivers drain into the Colorado River via the Green River, Salinity contributed to the Colorado River from the Price and San Rafael River Basins occurs principally as a result of the dissolution of soluble salts in the soil and substrata, Return flows from irrigation and runoff from precipitation transport salts to natural drains and eventually into the streams and rivers, An estimated 430,000 tons per year of salt reach the Colorado River from these two river basins, Of this amount, approximately 60 percent is attributed to agriculture, The recommended plan combines the Reclamation and USDA programs of irrigation improvements, Water pressure developed by piped laterals would be used to run sprinkler irrigation systems, The plan would also eliminate winter water from the canal systllm by installing a rural domestic water distribution system, This would be similar to the winter water program in the Lower Gunnison Basin Unit, San Juan River Unit The study area includes the entire 23,000-square-mile watershed from its headwaters in south-central Colorado to its mouth at Lake Powell, The drainage contributes approximately 1 million tons of salt annually to the Colorado River Basin, Early reconnaissance shows significant salt loading in the river between Shiprock, New Mexico, and the Four Corners area, At Bluff, Utah, the annual flow of 2,047,000 acre-feet of water contains 1,165,000 tons of salt, About 18 percent of this salt loading occurs between Shiprock and Bluff, but only 7 percent of the water is added in this reach, The Hammon~ Project, Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP), and the Hogback Irrigation Project (also a Navajo Indian project) are the principal irrigation sources of salt in the San Juan River Basin, Reclamation proposes to reduce seepage losses to the main canal system by lining the canal with either concrete or membrane linings, These improvements would eliminate seepage into the saline formations beneath the canals, reducing 8-8