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W -.J ....... N 3. Studjes of saline water use for industrial/energy-related purposes suggest that some of the more attractive options involve intrabasin/ interstate transfer of saline water from source to point of use. Although procedures exist among Upper Basin States to allocate Colorado River water use to the State where the use takes place, no such proce- dures exist for intrabasin exchanges among Lower Basin States, nor from Upper to Lower Basin. To one degree or another, these water right and allocation issues need to be addressed and resolved if the beneficial use concepts described herein are to come to fruition. On March 20, 1981, at its meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, th~ Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum (representing the governors of the seven Colorado River Basin States) focused these water right and allocation issues to its work group for consideration. The technology for saline water use in cooling powerp1ants, processing and transporting coal, and salt gradient solar ponds for power generation is not fully developed or widely accepted. Energy development interests are reluctant to make large investments in facilities without some evalua- tion of theireliability of new equipment. An urgent need has been identi- fied for demonstrating the long-term maintainability and reliability of recently developed saline water cooling towers. The environ~enta1 impacts of the alternative plans were considered in a Basin-wide Or cumulative context. Significant impact highlights include: 1. Substitution of saline water for fresh water at local use sites would have only minimal incremental environmental impacts associated with collection systems and b1owdown disposal requirements. 2. Saline water coal slurry transport pipelines could facilitate poten- tial tra~sfer of a significant part of energy development impacts outside of pristine areas in the Basin from mine mouth to near load centers. However, these impacts would have to be balanced against adverse impacts in the desert areas of California, which, themselves, have value for recreation and public use as relatively undisturbed natural areas. 3. Minor disruptions of land features, including wildlife habitat, may occur in collection areas and along pipeline routes. If existing road rights-of-way are used for pipeline corridors, impacts will be minimized over cross-country routes. All national parks, monuments, and scenic areas can be avoided. Coal transport by buried pipeline could reduce the need for long distance high-voltage transmission lines with atten- dant reduction in regional environmental impacts. 4. Use of saline water for coal transport to the West Coast could con- ceivably help in improvements in air quality in the Los Angeles basin. Coal-fired power generation and combined-cycle gas production in the 11 L :1 ',1 -',' "f; ....,A,'v,..., ;,il".l! ..