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<br />SUMMARY SHEETS <br /> <br />~)00155 <br /> <br />Paradox Valley Unit <br /> <br />Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Project <br /> <br />LOCATION <br /> <br />The Paradox Valley Unit would be located in Montrose and San Miguel <br />Counties of southwestern Colorado in the Upper Colorado River Basin. <br /> <br />PLAN <br /> <br />The unit would be designed to reduce the salinity of the Dolores and <br />Colorado Rivers by pumping brine ground water from a well field located <br />along the Dolores River in Paradox Valley and thus preventing it from <br />surfacing in the riverbed. A test well field has already been installed <br />as part of a design data collection program, and other facilities re- <br />quired for brine treatment and disposal would be added during unit <br />construction. <br /> <br />The brine would be piped from the well field to a nearby hydrogen sul- <br />fide stripping plant, where potentially toxic and corrosive gas would be <br />converted into sulfur. An operational headquarters would be constructed <br />at the site of the stripping plant. The treated brine and sulfur would <br />be piped from the stripping plant to the proposed Radium Evaporation <br />Pond for disposal. The pond would be located in Dry Creek Basin to the <br />southeast of the well field, and eight pumping plants would be installed <br />on the pipeline to lift the brine over the divide between Paradox Valley <br />and the basin. <br /> <br />To reduce adverse impacts on wildlife, a wildlife area would be devel- <br />oped near the evaporation pond and other areas temporarily disturbed by <br />construction would be seeded with plant species valuable as wildlife <br />habi tat. Since the wildlife area was not included in the unit plan <br />when it was authorized, the approval of the appropriate congressional <br />committees would be required. Also included as part of the unit would <br />be a cultural resource program to collect and preserve archaeological <br />information from two sites located within the proposed evaporation pond. <br /> <br />EFFECTS ON COLORADO RIVER (average annual) <br /> <br />Stream depletion (acre-feet). . . . . .. .... <br />Decrease in salt load (tons). . . . . .. .... <br />Effects on salt concentration at Imperial Dam (mg/l) <br />Increase from concentrating effect of stream depletion <br />Decrease from reduction of salt load <br />Net decrease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <br /> <br />3,950 <br />180,000 <br /> <br />0.4 <br />18.6 <br />18.2 <br />