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<br /> <br />The continuing water-quality program after 1980 includes several <br />waste water treatment plants and reuse facilities at or near the places <br />of use. A desalting plant could be .~tilized in the lower Gila-Salt <br />River drainage which would also aid the salt balance in the Gila Subregion. <br />. A desalting plant could also be utilized to treat effluents from the <br />Las Vegas area. Optimum .~tilization of the water resources will require <br />extensive treatment facilities to attain a high degree of water quality <br />control. Augmentation of the Colorado River with high quality import <br />water would have effects of major significance on improvement of the <br />q~ality of this principal water source. Continuing studies of the <br />Region's increasingly complex water quality problems are recommended. <br /> <br />In addition, the land treatment and management program described in <br />the following section would materially reduce the s'~spended sediment in <br />the Region's surface water supply. <br /> <br />Continued studies are proposed for the identification and solution <br />to physical, engineering, legal, and institutional considerations neces- <br />sary to implement a sound water quality program for the Region. <br /> <br />Land Treatment and Management <br /> <br />The land treatment and manage~ent program includes practices and <br />measures which improve the quality, quantity, and timing of runoff; <br />reduce erosion and sediment production; and improve the efficiency of <br />use of most factors of prod~ction. The program represents a composite <br />level which reconciles environmental protection and production objectives. <br />To be effective, the program must harmonize with all water and related <br />resource programs required to satisfy present and projected demands <br />within the Region. <br /> <br />Treatment would be included on nearly 20 million acres by 1980 at <br />an estimated cost of $278 million. From 1981 to 2020, an additional <br />44 million acres would be treated at an estimated total cost of $854 mil- <br />lion. In most cases, the same acre will require treatment more than <br />once d~ring the study period because of development of improved methods, <br />or the limited life of the measure or practice installed. <br /> <br />Cropland--Measures such as diversions, levees and dikes, channel <br />. improvement, floodways, and streambank protection were considered for <br />. floodwater and erosion control on cropland. <br /> <br />The program includes measures on about 573,000 acres of cropland <br />between 1965 and 1980 and 1.6 million acres during the 1981 to 2020 <br />period; About 52 percent of the program would be applied in the Lower <br />Main Stem Subregion; 2 percent in the Little Colorado Subregion; and <br />the remaining 46 percent in the Gila Subregion. <br /> <br />Rangeland--The land treatment .and management program for rangeland <br />was formulated to reduce erosion and sediment, control runoff, improve <br />forage production, prevent and suppress wildfire, and associated programs. <br /> <br />~ <br />