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-, 002333 . . completed or in progress will reduce the salt load by 96,400 tons/year. 1999 Triennial Report ~~ ~v)~ CJ'/ With regard to the Forum's 1999Triennial Report, I have included in the Board folder a copy of the State Water Resources Control Board's Resolution No. 2000-027, dated April 26th, which approved the 1999 Triennial Report and directed its staff to forward the document to EPA Region IX for approval. Salton Sea Authority On January 26, 2000, the Salton Sea Authority and the Bureau of Reclamation issued for comment a joint DEIS/DEIR for the Salton Sea Restoration Project to maintain and restore the ecological and socioeconomic values of the Salton Sea. I have included in the Board, folder for your infonnation, a copy of the Arizona Department of Water Resources' (ADWR) comment letter on the subjecl document. In its letter, ADWR questions the speculative use of excess Colorado River water for Sea restoration when no consideration has been given to the impact the proposed "interim surplus criteria" may have on the quantity of water availabile, or the environmental restoration competition that may exist for Colorado River water that may be released in excess of contract demand. Also, it questions the export of 304,800 acre-feet of "brackish water" from Central Arizona through a non- authorized project referred to as the Central Arizona Salinity Interceptor pipeline. Atlas Uranium Mill Tailings Last January the Board discussed an Agreement that had been signed by Energy Secretary Richardson, Interior Secretary Babbitt, the Ute Indian Tribe, and Governor Leavitt of Utah, which among other things directed the Department of Energy to seek Congressional authority and funding to remove the 10.5 million tons of mill tailing located adjacent to the Colorado River. On May 18th, Senator Bennett (R-UT) introduced S. 2588, the "Ute-Moab Land Restoration Act". The intent of the Act is: I) restoration of Ute Indian Tribal lands, and 2) remediation of the uranium mill tailing site near Moab, Utah. The legislation proposes to transfer the Naval Oil Shale Reserve No.2 lands to the Ute Indian Tribe which were taken from the Tribe in 1916 by the government to provide the Navy with a source of petroleum for its oil-burning ships. The Tribe is expected to increase the development of oil and gas production from the newly acquired lands and pay a royalty of nine percent to the Secretary of Energy to help offset the cost ofremediating and ultimately removing the mill tailings to a remote site. (' ~!"~~._._~, ..,.,..- ~ Gerald R. Zimmerman Executive Director 7