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<br />.. <br /> <br />W <br />--J <br />o <br />en <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />CHAPTER 1 <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />1,1. Statement of Problem and Scope of Study <br /> <br />The Colorado River Basin is the main water resource for the <br /> <br />entire Southwest, providing water for irrigation, industry, power, <br /> <br />municipal needs and recreation. A critical shortage of water and a <br /> <br />deterioration of water quality plague this vital resource. The most <br /> <br />serious water quality problem in the basin is salinity and the <br /> <br />continued increase in salinity over the last century (U.S. Bureau of <br /> <br />Reclamation, 1972). The Colorado River Basin is divided into the <br /> <br />Upper and Lower Basins by the Colorado River Compact of 1922 (U.S. <br /> <br />Congressional Record, 1928), The physical dividing point is Lees <br /> <br />Ferry, Arizona (Fig. 1,1), <br /> <br />Salinity sources are categorized into two distinct groups: <br /> <br />(1) Point sources are usually easy to identify because of the high <br /> <br />solute concentrations involved, They include springs and large seeps <br /> <br />as well as saline effluents of urban, industrial and agricultural <br /> <br />origin; (2) diffuse sources frequently cover large tracts of land. <br /> <br />Spatial variations in solute contribution within such large areas are <br /> <br />not easily determined, This report deals only with the role of <br /> <br />sediment in diffuse-source salt loading, The scope of this study <br /> <br />includes: <br /> <br />1, A brief review of current knowledge; <br /> <br />2, Spatial variability of soluble mineral content (herein <br /> <br />denoted SMC); <br /> <br />3, Identification of variables that determine the rate of <br /> <br />solute pickup; <br /> <br />4, Role of sediment in salt loading of flows over hillslopes; <br /> <br />-~; -;..., <br />