7883

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7883
• Author: Colorado Ecosystem Partnership.
• Title: Colorado Ecosystem Partnership, ...Governments, Citizens and Scientists Working Together...
• USFW Year: 1994.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

Colorado River Basin Salinity
Control Program
0
August, 1994
Setting and scope The Colorado River basin covers about 244,000 square miles in seven states
including west-central Colorado, eastern Utah, northwest-southwest Arizona,
southwest Wyoming, southeast Nevada and California, and western New
Mexico. Rock formations in the Upper Colorado River Basin, primary marine
shales provide a natural and almost infinite supply of salt that can be leached
into the river system.
Current plan of implementation of a salinity control program runs through 2015.
Issues/problems being Major environmental threats:
addressed Increasing salinity levels in the river and the effects on agricultural soils in
Arizona, California and Mexico and, to an even greater degree inflict economic
damage to industrial and municipal water users.
Loss of artificially-created wetlands is a major impact of the salinity control
program.
Participants US Department of Interior; US Department of Agriculture; US Environmental
Protection Agency; citizens of AZ, CA, CO, NV, NM, UT, WY, Mexico; state
wildlife agencies; Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum
Sources of technical input State and federal agencies
Brief history and present Organization that initiated project: Congress enacted Colorado River Basin
status Salinity Control Act.
The seven basin states developed a plan of implementation for salinity control.
This plan is designed to meet the objective of maintaining the salinity
concentrations at or below the numeric criteria established at three lower basin
monitoring locations, and to meet commitments to Mexico. The plan is based on
the use of long term mean water supply of 15 million acre-feet annually. The plan
of implementation includes:
1) policies used in all basin states for implementing the salinity standards
through the NPDES permit program; and
2) salinity control projects implemented through federal funding primarily in the
upper basin states. Heavy state and local cost sharing is required.
Funding sources Congress, the Basin states and local water users
Contact Jack Barnett, Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum 106 W. 500 South
,
Suite 101, Bountiful, UT 84010, [phone], FAX: [phone]