Laserfiche WebLink
<br />;. <br /> <br />Yuma Desalting Plant <br /> <br />A Status Report <br /> <br />August 1990 <br /> <br />Background <br />The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act became law in June 1974. <br />It authorized work to comply with agreements made by representatives of <br />the United States and Mexico. The plan would bring a permanent and <br />definitive solution to the international problems of Colorado River water <br />salinity. The portion of the agreement which generated the Yuma Desalting <br />Plant specified that the approximately 1,360.000 acre-feet of water delivered <br />annually to Mexico at Morelos Dam (about 5 miles west of Yuma, Arizona) <br />have an annual average salinity of no more than 115 milligrams per liter (plus <br />or minus 30 mgll) over the annual average salinity of water arriving at <br />Imperial Dam (about 20 miles upstream of Yuma). <br /> <br />The legislation provided for the following major features: <br /> <br />. constructing a desalting plant to treat drainage return flows from the <br />Well ton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District located east of <br />Yuma and improving irrigation efficiency to reduce the quantity of <br />return flows, <br /> <br />. constructing a bypass drain to the Santa Clara Slough in Mexico at the <br />Gulf of California, <br /> <br />. concrete lining the Coachella Canal in southern California to salvage <br />water, <br /> <br />. constructing a well field in southwestern Arizona to develop ground <br />water for use in the United States and to deliver to Mexico up to <br />160,000 acre-feet annually. <br /> <br />Yuma Desalting Plant <br />The Yuma Desalting Plant is designed to help accomplish salinity control of <br />Colorado River water. When needed, Reclamation will salvage the drainage <br />water, desalt it, and put it into the Colorado River to become part of the U.S. <br />treaty-required water deliveries to Mexico, The drainage water presently <br />flows into the Santa Clara Slough. <br />