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WATER QUALITY PROGRAM IN THE UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN (Information relative to the Water Quality Program in the Upper Colorado River Basin has been obtained from the United States Department of the Interior, Bureaus of Reclamation and Land Management, and the United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service.) Title II of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act, Public Law 93-320 (approved June 24,1974) authorized and directed the Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate and maintain four salinity control units as the initial stage of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program and to expedite completion of the planning reports on twelve units. Title II also provided for the establishment of the eolorado River Basin Salinity Control Advisory Council. Public Law 98-569, the Colo- rado River Basin Salinity Control Act, Amendment, was passed by the 98th Congress and signed by the President on October 30, 1984. The 1984 Amendments to the Colorado River Salinity Control Act required the Secretary of the Interior to develop a comprehensive pro- gram to minimize salt contributions from lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The July 1987 Report to Congress, "Salinity eontrol on BLM-Administered Public Lands in the Colorado River Basin," addressed the extent of salt contributed from public lands, current actions and future recommendations to achieve the objective of minimizing salinity contributions while recognizing multiple-use objec- tives and authorized uses. During water year 1990, the BLM completed vegetation/soil inven- tories on 477,000 acres in three states: eolorado (100,000 acres), Wyoming (197,000 acres), and Utah (Kane County, 180,000 acres). Phase I - Priority Ranking of watersheds for salinity in the eolorado River Basin portion of Utah was conducted with an interagency team effort. All involved with the process were pleased with the results and comfortable with the rankings. The effort covered 2,780,000 acres and was accom- plished in about two weeks. Phase II - Reconnaissance Planning was initiated on the eight highest priority watersheds with the interagency team in Utah. BLM initiated a coal bed methane gas study in Colorado. 65