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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 3642 Major Impacts of Salinity Control Projects within Colorado Colorado River Basin According to the Colorado River Quality Improvement Program's January 1983, Status Report, most of the 9,000,000 tons of salt that the Colorado River carries past Hoover Dam oriqinates from two sources: natural (47%) and irrigation (37%). The remaining portion (16%)is attributable to reservoir evaporation, transbasin exports, and municipal and industrial uses. nata from the U.S. GeloC]ical Survey for years 1914-1956 (Professional Paper 441) indicate that the Colorado River Basin within Colorado contributes approximately one-half of this total load. Over the past 25 years, the federal government, through the Departments of Agriculture and Interior, has been investigating the various sources of salinity within the Colorado River Basin. As a result of these investigations, seven projects have heen identified as salinity control units within Colorado (see figure 1). The first four: Glenwood-Dotsero Springs, Paradox Valley, Meeker Dome, and Sinbad Valley are natural sources, and the last three: Grand Valley, Lower Gunnison, and McElmo Creek are irrigation sources. The development of these seven projects, as currently planned, could cause significant impacts on the affected areas. This report, written from a state perspective, summarizes the major impacts of the identified salinity control projects. There are many physical and technical issues surrounding each project, but they will not be discussed here since they are discussed in detail in the reference material. NATURAL SOURCES The four Colorado salinity control projects in this category are associated with saline springs. The four projects 222 dl/scp -8-