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<br /> <br />(;) <br /> <br />~... studied, the San Juan Collector System in Colorado and New Mexico <br />~",) where water could be used for coal gasification, and the Palo Verde <br />~ Irrigation District in California and the Colorado River Indian <br />~l Reservation in Arizona and California where saline return flows <br />could be used for powerplant cooling water. <br /> <br />Agricultural experimental stations of the Western Experiment Station <br />Directors in cooperation with the USDA have established a regional <br />research project entitled "Salinity Management in the Colorado River <br />Basin." The stated objectives of the proj ect are to develop and <br />evaluate methods for understanding and managing salinity in the <br />Colorado River Basin from agricultural and diffuse natural sources. <br /> <br />Economic studies are being made to determine the economic effects <br />of salinity level increases. Adverse physical effects of salinity <br />result in direct economic impacts on water users and the indirect <br />economic impacts on the regional economy. Salinity is thus an <br />economic problem. In the Colorado River Basin, the economic effects <br />are primarily limited to agricultural, municipal and industrial uses <br />. and include decreased crop yields, increased leaching water require- <br />ments and management costs, increased municipal and industrial <br />water treatment costs, accelerated pipe corrosion and appliance <br />wear, and decreased palatability of drinking water. <br /> <br />Large expenditures of funds would be necessary to control the salinity <br />level of the streamflows. Costs and benefits must be ascertained to <br />determine the economic feasibility of salinity controls including <br />individual salinity control projects. <br /> <br />The benefits calculated relate to the economic impact of doing <br />nothing. Whereas, the EPA studies related benefits to reduction in <br />salt loading at Hoover Dam, these studies relate benefits to reductions <br />in salt loading at Imperial Dam. <br /> <br />The Colorado River is one of the most highly developed rivers in the <br />world. The complexity of the physical, legal and operational <br />relationships within the basin necessitated mathematical models to <br />develop an improved understanding of the system and to ease computa- <br />tional burdens. Two mathematical models have been developed. One <br />model is identified as the "river network salt routing model" and <br />the other a "system simulation model." The former utilized simplifying <br />assumptions and facilitated early evaluations of salinity impacts <br />from water developments and salinity control works. It provided <br />direction for the development of the more encompassing and complex <br />system simulation model. This latter model involves critical data <br />analYSis, simulations, operating criteria, flood control operations, <br />power production, and runoff forecasting. <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />9 <br /> <br />