7641

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7641
• Author: U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Title: Quality of Water, Colorado River Basin.
• USFW Year: 1987.
• USFW - Doc Type: Progress Report No. 13,
• Copyright Material: NO

The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 (Public Law
93-320) provided the means to comply with United States obligations to Mexico
which included as a major feature a desalting plant and brine discharge canal.
These facilities will enable the United States to deliver water to Mexico
having an average salinity no greater than 115 parts per million (ppm) + 30
ppm (United States' count) over the annual average salinity of the Colorado
River at Imperial Dam. The act also authorized construction of 4 salinity
control units and the expedited planning of 12 other salinity control projects
above Imperial Dam as part of the basinwide salinity control plan.

In 1984, the Forum reviewed the salinity standards which were
adopted by all of the 7 Basin States and recommended the construction of 3 of
the 4 salinity control units and 10 of the 12 projects identified in the 1974
act, the placing of effluent limitations on industrial and municipal
discharges, and the reduction of the salt loading effects of irrigation return
flows. The plan also called for the inclusion of water quality management
plans to comply with Section 208 provisions after the adoption of the plans by
the States and approval by EPA. It also contemplated the use of saline water
for industrial purposes and future salinity use control methods.

Public Law 98-569, signed October 30, 1984, amends Public Law
93-320. The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act, as now amended,
provides the authority for the pursuit of salinity control measures, primarily
by the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, that will
allow for the necessary salinity controls on the river to be put in place
through the year 2000. It will insure, if implemented, compliance with the
numeric criteria at least through the year 2005.

The 1974 act has required that there be repayment for the units
authorized in Public Law 93-320 in the amount of 25 percent over 50 years
without interest. Public Law 98-569 directs the Secretary of Agriculture to
target for 30 percent local cost sharing for the implementation of on-farm
improvement programs. Additionally, 30 percent of the balance of the
Department of Agriculture's cost-share program and 30 percent of the costs of
the Department of the Interior's newly authorized programs will be reimbursed
to the Federal treasury from the Upper and Lower Basin Funds.

C. Participants in the Salinity Control Program

Reclamation was delegated the coordinating role for the Secretary of
the Interior; and the Chief, Colorado River Water Quality Office, was
appointed the designated salinity control liaison officer for the Department
of the Interior. As liaison officer, he coordinates the overall salinity
control program with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Colorado River Basin Salinity
Control Advisory Council, and the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum
(Forum).

In 1985, a USDA Basin Coordinator position was established to assist
in carrying out the Colorado River salinity program. The position is
responsible for coordination and evaluation of USDA salinity control
activities in the Basin. The Coordinator, headquartered at the Bureau of
Reclamation, Colorado River Water Quality Office in Denver, Colorado, is the
primary point of contact between the Reclamation and USDA agencies. The
coordinator is also responsible for providing salinity control program

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