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<br />~ <br />-.J <br />-.J <br />"'., <br /> <br />The monitoring data will help to measure <br />what is happening to the irrigation water <br />applied to the fields. The soil moisture levels, <br />irrigation inflow, tailwater, and weather data <br />are all measured to evaluate whether the <br />water applied is being used by the crop, lost <br />to tailwater runoff, or passed through the soil <br />profile below the plant roots. <br />The information gathered through this <br />program will help the SCS to do a better job <br />in working with the landowners on the water <br />conservation and salinity reduction <br />measures. The information can be used to <br />plan better irrigation systems and better <br />water management techniques. The <br />monitoring data may also be useful in <br />identifying situations and potential areas for <br />future irrigation improvements. <br />The program has a few sites where <br />monitoring equipment is operational at this <br />time. Additional sites, to represent more of <br />the crops and soils, will be added over the <br />next several months. <br /> <br />Aquatrain Developments <br /> <br />The concept for this multipurpose <br />pipeline has advanced through appraisal- <br />level studies on a system which would <br />transport saline water by pipeline to industrial <br />users, and-in a separate pipeline-would <br />carry coal from western sources to a Pacific <br />Coast port for export. The pulverized coal <br />would be shipped in slurry form using liquid <br />carbon dioxide as the transport medium. <br />Based on market research, designs, cost <br />estimates, and financial analyses, a business <br />plan has been prepared by the projecfs <br />private industry partner, Aquatrain, Inc. This <br />fall, the firm will present the plan to <br />prospective financial partners to seek <br />funding for project design, construction, and <br />operation. <br />Funding from equity partners will allow <br />intensive activities to begin in 1985. Design <br />and construction could begin on a <br />demonstration facility to verify the liquid <br />carbon dioxide/coal slurry technology which <br />has been tested to date in a small-scale pilot <br />plant. Environmental scoping activities could <br />also start in early 1985, leading to the <br />preparation of an environmental impact <br />statement. <br /> <br />Project development, design, and <br />construction are expected to be completed in <br />5 years, and the estimated operational date <br />for the pipeline is late 1989. <br />Reclamation and Western Water Reserves, <br />Inc. (parent company to Aquatrain, Inc.) are <br />now defining pipeline features to collect, <br />transport, and beneficially use saline water <br />from the Colorado River Basin for industrial <br />purposes. Expressions of interest have been <br />received from two electric utilities, an oil <br />shale company, and a potash mining <br />company to jointly study possible uses and <br />determine costs. <br />Reclamation completed a study on the use <br />of Price-San Rafael River (Utah) irrigation <br />return flows for powerplant cooling. <br />According to the study, a combination of <br />softening and use of brine concentrators is <br />the most cost-effective method for using the <br />Price-San Rafael saline water in the <br />powerplant. <br />Another study underway will determine <br />the feasibility of using Big Sandy River <br />(Wyoming) water for powerplant cooling at <br />Jim Bridger Powerplant. A draft report is <br />expected in January 1985. <br />From these studies, the benefits, impacts, <br />and costs of each saline water use will be <br />determined. In 1985, feasible projects will be <br />identified and funding options will be <br />defined. <br />The role of Project Manager will be <br />performed by Walter Fite through mid- <br />January 1985. Fite, Assistant Project <br />Manager for Reclamation's Saline Water <br />Transport and Use Office, will act in the <br />absence of Project Manager Michael Clinton <br />who has been appointed Technical Staff <br />Director for the Department of the Interior's <br />Garrison Diversion Unit Commission <br />(Garrison Diversion Unit, North Dakota). <br /> <br />Uintah Basin (SCS) <br /> <br />Improving quality of planning and <br />implementation has been a major effort of the <br />Uinta Basin Soil Conservation Service staff <br />this year. Emphasis has been placed on <br />comprehensive systems planning and lateral <br />pooling agreements to consolidate systems. <br />Monitoring and evaluation activities are on <br />schedule with irrigation evaluation systems <br />in place on 10 farms and on 30 wildlife <br /> <br />monitoring sites identified, with baseline data <br />collected. <br />There has been a significant number of <br />would-be program participants unable to <br />proceed with their proposed L T A (long-term <br />agreement) contracts because of the <br />depressed economic situation. <br /> <br />Health Impacts Negligible <br /> <br />A staff member of the Colorado River <br />Water Quality Office attended a recent <br />conference on Inorganics in Drinking Water <br />and Cardiovascular Disease sponsored by <br />the Health Impacts Laboratory of EPA's <br />Drinking Water Office. The conference was <br />directed by Dr. Edward Calabrese, one ofthe <br />original United States researchers in the <br />realm of the health impacts of sodium. It was <br />the study by Drs. Calabrese and Tuthill <br />concerning school children in two <br />Massachusetts communities that sparked <br />initiation of many studies around the world. <br />In Drs. Calabrese and Tuthill's study, a <br />difference of 2-5 millimeters (mm) Mercury <br />of blood pressure was found between third <br />graders with a drinking water supply of about <br />10 mg/L sodium and those drinking water of <br />about 102 mg/L sodium. <br />Subsequent attempts by Drs. Calabrese <br />and Tuthill to validate these results with other <br />groups or by other methods (bottled water) <br />have proven inconclusive. Studies reported <br />from the Netherlands did support findings of <br />slightly elevated blood pressures among <br />school children consuming high sodium <br />water, but most other studies either were <br />inconclusive or showed that there was no <br />effect. <br />Two areas of concern mentioned during <br />the discussions were the use of zeolite water <br />softeners on the kitchen cold water faucet <br />and the cooking of vegetables in high sodium <br />waters, as the vegetables could absorb large <br />amounts of sodium during cooking. In most <br />cases, avoidance of these two actions would <br />be more significant than any reduction in raw <br />water concentration. <br />A significant correlation between higher <br />blood pressure and increased cardiovascular <br />disease (CVD) mortality was presented atthe <br />conference. However, the link between <br />sodium and high blood pressure was weak. <br />Other conference discussions on hard vs. <br />soft water primarily concluded that soft water <br />