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<br />00228a <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />RecOJl11aissance appraisals. -- Reconnaissance appraisals are <br />proposed tor those ground-water basins that have not been developed or <br />investigated, to estimate or determine extent and properties or the <br />aquifers and chemical qual:l.ty of the water, to define sources of <br />recharge, and to estimate storage capability and yield. Same such . <br />basins doubtless contain water of good quality and appreciable quantity. <br />Other basins are known to, or~, contain brackish water that would <br />be unusable unless diluted. To take full advantage of new develop- <br />ments in the technology of desalinatiQ:l, the brackish-water bodies <br />would be delineated so far as is feasible. !!he reconnaissance <br />appraisals must be based on extensive knowledge of the areal geology; <br />read1~ available bydrolog:l.c information, would be gathered also. <br />!!hey are proposed to be large~ completed within ten years. Esti- <br />mated cost, first year $100,000, second to fifth year $250,000 per <br />year. <br /> <br />Managed storage.-- In certain ground-water reservoil('s, ,storage <br />space can be evecuated by withdrawing water seasona1~ or during a <br />succession of drought years, and then refilled from surplus strea:mf'lOll' <br />either natural~ or artificially. Unde:i' favorable circ1llllstances, it <br />should be practical to manage underground storage so that perennial <br />water yield would be increased. OVers:l.Dq>l:I.fied, this is a principal <br />method by which surface- and' ground-water sources ~ be Ill&Il8.ged jOint4', <br />Determining potentials for such Ill&Il8.gement would be an integral part <br />of the potential..,.ieldand reconnaissance appraisals lIescribed above. <br /> <br />Major opportunities for Ill&Il8.ged underground storage appear to <br />e:li:ist beneath the valley plain along the main stem of the Colorado <br />River. In particular, a terminal-storage facility of this kind in <br />the vicinity of Yuma, with Ill&Il8.geable storage capacity of 500,000 <br />to 1,000,000 acre-feet, ~ prove feasible and practical. Appraisal <br />of the physical and bydrolog:i.c features related to this potential is <br />one objective of the Lower Colorado River investigation currently under <br />ws.y. <br /> <br />SUrface-Water Sources <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Gag:l.ng-station network.-- OVer most of the Pacific Southwest, <br />the network of pr:llllary gag:l.ng stations on principal streams is reasonably <br />adequate. Ultimate~, however, a moderate number of roving, secondary <br />stations wi:).l be useful to: (1) discriminate uncommitted supplies that <br />~ prove to be developable in the Little COlorado and Bill Willi8ills <br />river basins and elsewhere at scattered places; and (2) determ1ne <br />ma.gn1 tude and frequency of ephemeral discharge into numerous desert <br />basins, discharge which is a prinCipal source of ground-water recharge. <br />It is proposed that, in each year of an initial five-year period, 50 <br />secondary stations be established; also that each year thereafter, 50 <br />such stations be relocated to new sites. cost, first year $50,000, <br />second to fifth year $140,000 per year. <br /> <br />8 <br /> <br />