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Introduction t;. (.0 -, _. Th~ decree also permmed the Secretary of the Interior (S~cretary) to make water unused in one Slate available for use in another State and allowed F~d~ral Waler projects and the development of IndIan mbal lands to proceed. c.,_, ~othing in Ihis report is intend~d to interpret the provisions of Ihe Colorado River Compact (45 Stat. 1057). the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact (63 Stat. 31). the Water Treaty of 19+1- wilh the United ~1e"ican States (Treaty S~ric:s 994; 59 Stat. 1219). the decree entered by the Supreme Court of the United Stales in Ari:ona v. California t!l 01. (376 USe. 340). Ihe Boulder Canyon Project ACI H5 Stat. 1057). the Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act (54 Stat. 774: 43 U.S C. 618a). the Colorado River Storage Project Act (70 Stat. 105: 43 USe. 620). or the Colorado River Basin Project Act (82 Stat. 885: -13 U.S C. 1501). Water Quality Although a number of water quality related legislative actions have been laken on the State and Federal levels. four Federal aClS are of special sigmficance to the Colorado Ri....er Basin-the \Valer Qualltv Act of ]965 and related amendments. the Federal Water Pollulion Control Act Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92-500). lhe Colorado Ri....er Basin Salinity Control Act (Salinily COnlro] AeIl of 1974 as amended. and the Clean Water Act of 1977 as amended. Also, cemralto water qualilY i\\ues are agreementS with ~1e_'dco on Colorado River System waters entering lhal country The \,"'aler Quality Act of 1965 (Public Law 89.234) amended lhe Federa] Water Pollution Control Act and e~lablished a Federal Waler Pollution Control Administration (now Environmental PrOlection Agenc)" [EPA))' Among other provisions. it required States to adopt water qualilY crileria for interslate waters inside theIr boundaries. The seven Basin States initially developed \\-ater quality standards that did nOI include numeric sa]init)" criteria for the Colorado River prinuoly I:lecause of technical conslraints. In 1972, the Basin States agreed to a policy that called for the maIntenance of salinit)" concentrations in the Lower Colorado River System at or below e,istlng kvels. \\-hile the Upper Colorado River Basin Stales continued to develop their compact-apportioned Walers. The Basin States suggested that Reclamation should have primary responslbilu)" for investiganng. planning. and implem~mmg the proposed SalinilY Control Program. The enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 affected salinit)" control in that the kgislation was Interpreted by EPA to require numerical standards for salinity in lh~ Colorado River. In response. the Basin States founded the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum (Forum) to develop water quality standards including numeric salinity criteria and a basinwide plan of implement3110n for salinit)" control. The Basin Slates held public meetings on Ihe proposed standards as required by the enacting legislation. The Forum recommended that the individual Basm States adopt the report. H-orer QI~aliry Srandards for Saliniry, Including Numeric Cnteria and Plan of Imp/emenrarionfor Saliniry Control. Colorado Ri\"er S.....stem. The proposed water quall1Y standards called for maintenance of flow.weighted average lotal dissol....ed solids concentrations of 723 milligrams per Iiler (mg/Ll below Hoover Dam. 7-17 mg/L below Parker Dam. and 879 mg/L at Imreflal Dam. Included in the plan of implementation were four salinu)" 3