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<br />~ <br />~ <br />....l <br />Q <br /> <br />Title II of the Salinity Control Act authorizes the <br />Secretary of the Interior to construct five <br />salinity control units and authorizes the <br />Secretary of Agriculture to implement an onfarm <br />salinity program, Further, the Secretary ofthe <br />Interior was directed to undertake research on <br />additional methods to control salinity and to <br />cooperate with USDA and others, <br /> <br /> <br />Summary <br /> <br />The Quality of Water, Colorado River Basin, <br />Progress Report is prepared every 2 years to <br />summarize the status of water quality in the <br />Colorado River Basin (Basin), The Colorado <br />River provides municipal and industrial water <br />for more than 18 million people in seven States <br />and irrigation water to more than 1. 7 million <br />acres ofland, <br /> <br />The threat of salinity is a major concern in both <br />the United States and the Republic of Mexico, <br />Increases in salinity are important in the Basin <br />because of its effect on crops and on municipal <br />and industrial users, Damages in the Upper <br />Basin and Mexico are unquantified, but current <br />damages in the Lower Basin are estimated at <br />$311 million per year, These damages will <br />increase to over $1 billion per year as salinity <br />levels approach normal levels under the salinity <br />standards, <br /> <br />The Salinity Control Act (Public Laws 93-320 <br />and 98-569) authorizes the Secretaries of the <br />U,S, Department of the Interior (Interior) and <br />U,S, Department of Agriculture (USDA) to <br />enhance and protect the quality of water <br />available in the Colorado River for use in the <br />United States and the Republic of Mexico, <br /> <br />Title I of the Salinity Control Act authorizes the <br />construction and operation of a desalting plant, <br />brine discharge canal, and other features that <br />will enable the United States to deliver water to <br />Mexico having an average salinity no greater <br />than 115 parts per million (ppm) +/- 30 ppm over <br />the annual average salinity ofthe Colorado <br />River at Imperial Dam, <br /> <br />In 1992, the average annual salinity levels at the <br />Hoover, Parker, and Imperial stations were at or <br />slightly below the numeric criteria levels of the <br />salinity standards, This was due in part to the <br />Interior and USDA salinity control programs, <br />These programs are removing over a quarter <br />million tons of salt annually from the river <br />system, Without further salinity control, the <br />salinity standards will be exceeded, <br /> <br />Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) estimates <br />that over a million tons of salt per year will <br />ultimately need to be removed from the river <br />system to maintain average salinity below the <br />numeric criteria level of 879 milligrams per liter <br />(mg/L) at Imperial Dam, To meet this objective, <br />several new salinity control units will need to be <br />authorized and constructed, Even with these <br />controls in place, there will still be temporary' <br />excursions above the numeric criterion of <br />879 mg/L due to the natural variations in <br />climatic conditions, hydrology, and water usage, <br />