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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I increase the $~5Jl age population by 340 during the peak year of construction. Onfarm Program The onfarrn program for the Lower Gunnison Basin Unit covers a substantially larger area than the Bureau of Reclamation's off- farm study. ~s a result, the Department of ~griculture's onfarm program includes some private canal and lateral improvements. The Soil Conservation Service has recommended a plan which calls for the implementation of two tQchllical meilsures. The first is better irrigation management and would include better timing and control of irrigation water and land-leveling. The second solution is the lining of canals and laterals or replacing the earthen ditches with pipe. These measures would be applied to 169,000 acres of irrigated land in the unit. It is estimated that the plan will reduce the annual salt loading to the Gunnison River by 335,000 tons which represents a reduction of the salinity concentration at Imperial Darn of 34.9 mgjl. The total cost of the plan is estimated at $169.4 million which yields a cost-effectiveness value of $431,000 per mgjl. Impacts The ten year construction period of this $169,400,000 project would likely affect the local economy in the area of labor and related services. The Soil Conservation Service reported that there would be a net increase of over 700 jobs during project implementation. The farmers in the area would have to raise 25 percent of the total costs or about $42,000,000 in order to provide their required 25 percent cost share. This would put a significant burden on the participating farmers. The impacts of implementing the onfarrn program in the Lower Gunnison Basin Unit will be similar to those in Grand Valley. unlike the Grand Valley program, this program has a suggested -22-