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<br />em <br />~} <br />,,~ <br />.-j <br /> <br />Crl <br />.. ~ <br />~,' <br /> <br />FIGURE 4 <br />WHAT DOES SALINITY IN THE COLORADO RIVER MEAN? <br /> <br />As water mOves over and through the earth's crust, it dissolves the salts <br />of naturally occurring minerals. These additions to the water, often referred <br />to as TOS (total dissolved SOlids), are measured in terms of milligrams <br />per liter (the metric equivalent of parts per million in U.S. measure). <br /> <br />Water quality standards <br /> <br />Average Colorado River <br />salinity levels (1981) <br /> <br />Use <br /> <br />In mg/L <br /> <br />Location In mg/L <br /> <br />Good drinking water <br /> <br />Below 500 <br /> <br />Headwaters 50 <br /> <br />Municipal & <br />industr ial <br /> <br />Losses begin <br />above 500 <br /> <br />Dividing point-- 513 <br />Upper and <br />Lower Basins <br /> <br />Agricultural <br /> <br />Losses begin <br />700-850 and <br />above <br /> <br />Last U.S. diversion 806 <br />point <br /> <br />To illustrate concentrations: <br /> <br />50 mg/L = 1 ounce of TOS in 200 gallons of water <br />820 mg/L = 3 cups of TOS in 200 gallons of water <br /> <br />The TOS in the Colorado River are expected to increase, possibly reaching <br />1089 mg/L at the last U.S. diversion point (Imperial Dam) in the year 2010 <br />without control. <br /> <br />One mg/L is equivalent to about 10,000 tons of TOS. Each mg/L increase causes <br />an additional one half million dollars in damage each year. <br /> <br />16 <br />