7431

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7431
• Author: Colorado River Salinity Program Coordinator.
• Title: Salinity Update.
• USFW Year: 1989.
• USFW - Doc Type: Denver, Colorado.
• Copyright Material: NO

1 7 THE SOLUTION
USDA Salinity Control
Coordinating Committee.
The States
The Colorado River Basin States
support the salinity control program
through water quality management
plans, effluent discharge control,
and education in the control of
salinity.
requires an awareness of salinity -
sources, impacts, and alternative
methods of control. The Basin
States continue to work through the
Forum with concerned agencies to
increase public understanding of
salinity.
The Colorado River Basin
Salinity Control Forum and
Advisory Council
The Basin States individually
develop water quality management
plans and nonpoint source manage-
ment programs to conform with the
requirements of sections 208 and
319 of the Clean Water Act. These
requirements include public
involvement, problem assessment,
identification of best management
practices, establishment of control
programs, and designation of
management agencies.
State programs also include the
control of total dissolved solids from
point discharges through the
National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permit
program. Fish hatcheries, lumber
products mills, sewage treatment
plants, and powerplant wastes are
some of the municipal and
industrial effluent sources under
control. Reuse of treated
wastewater is encouraged as a
general principle. Industries are
also encouraged to use saline water
in place of fresh water.
Education and public
involvement are emphasized. The
basin-wide nature of salinity
The Forum is composed of up to
three water resource and/or water
quality representatives from each of
the seven Colorado River Basin
States, appointed by their respective
governors. The Advisory Council is
also composed of up to three
members appointed by the
governors of each of the seven
Colorado River Basin States.
As a result of Public Law 92-500,
the Forum was established in 1973
as a mechanism for interstate
cooperation and to develop water
quality standards. Section 303 of
the Clean Water Act requires that
these water quality standards be
reviewed from time to time, but at
least once every 3 years.
The seven-state Forum, with the
aid of its internal Work Group,
prepares a review of the water
quality standards, including
numeric criteria and the plan of
implementation previously
developed by the Forum. The 1984
review included the modifications
or revisions to the plan of
implementation that have become
necessary as a result of changed