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<br />Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act (54 Stat. 774; 43 V.S.C. 618a), the Colorado <br />River Storage Project Act (70 Stat. 105; 43 V.S.C. 620), or the Colorado River Basin <br />Project Act (82 Stat. 885; 43 U.s.C. 1501). <br /> <br />Water Quality <br /> <br />Although a number of water quality related legislative actions have been taken on the <br />State and Federal levels, four Federal acts are of special significance to the Colorado <br />River Basin (Basin)-the Water Quality Act of 1965 and related amendments, the <br />Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92-500), the <br />Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 as amended, and the Clean Water <br />Act of 1977 as amended. Also central to water quality issues are agreements with <br />Mexico on Colorado River System waters entering that country. <br /> <br />The Water Quality Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-234) amended the Federal Water <br />Pollution Control Act and established a Federal Water Pollution Control <br />Administration (now Environmental Protection Agency [EPAD. Among other <br />provisions, it required States to adopt water quality criteria for interstate waters <br />inside their boundaries. The seven Basin States initially developed water quality <br />standards that did not include numeric salinity criteria for the Colorado River <br />primarily because of technical constraints. In 1972, the Basin States agreed to a <br />policy that called for the maintenance of salinity concentrations in the Lower Colorado <br />River System at or below existing levels, while the Upper Basin States continued to <br />develop their compact-apportioned waters. The Basin States suggested that <br />Reclamation should have primary responsibility for investigating, planning, and <br />implementing the proposed Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program. <br /> <br />The enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 <br />affected salinity control in that the legislation was interpreted by EPA to require <br />numerical standards for salinity in the Colorado River. In response, the Basin States <br />- founded the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum (Forum) to develop water <br />quality standards including numeric salinity criteria and a basinwide plan of <br />implementation for salinity control. The Basin States held public meetings on the <br />proposed standards as required by the enacting legislation. The Forum recommended <br />that the individual Basin States adopt the report, Water Quality Standards for <br />Salinity Including Numeric Criteria and Plan of Implementation for Salinity Control, <br />Colorado River System. The proposed water quality standard called for maintenance <br />of flow-weighted average total dissolved solids concentrations of 723 milligrams per <br />liter (mg/L) below Hoover Dam, 747 mg/L below Parker Dam, and 879 mg/L at <br />Imperial Dam. Included in the plan of implementation were four salinity control units <br />and possibly additional units, the application of effluent limitations, the use of saline <br />water whenever practicable, and future studies. The standards are to be reviewed at <br />3-year intervals. All of the Basin States adopted the 1975 Forum recommended <br />standards. The Environmental Protection Agency approved the standards. <br /> <br />The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 (Salinity Control Act) (Public <br />Law 93-320) provided the means to comply with Vnited States obligations to Mexico <br />which included, as a major feature, a desalting plant and brine discharge canal. These <br />facilities will enable the United States to deliver water to Mexico having an average <br />salinity no greater than 115 parts per million (ppm) +/- 30 ppm (United States count) <br /> <br />3 <br />