MOU on the Gunnison Basin Selenium Management Program

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QPP ��OT OF Tye, O � ti United States Department of the Interior BUREAU OF RECLAMATION Upper Colorado Region CH , —" Western Colorado Area Office 2764 Compass Drive, Suite 106 IN REPLY REFER To: Grand Junction, CO 81506 WCG- SMccall ADM -13.00 Ms. Jennifer Gimbel Director, Colorado Water Conservation Board 1313 Sherman Street, Room 721 Denver CO 80203 Subject: Selenium Management Program Dear Ms. Gimbel: Congratulations and thank you for your support of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Gunnison Basin Selenium Management Program (MOU). Attached for your use is the executed copy of the MOU. Your continued work and support to develop the program is very much appreciated. Since our agencies' managers met in Montrose in May, progress has been made in developing the selenium management program while at the same time we are continuing and accelerating on- the - ground activities to reduce salinity and associated selenium loading to the river system. Recent activities include: • A new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Reclamation's Basinwide Salinity Control Program has been released and work, including salt load allocation and mapping, commenced in preparation of this. • A comprehensive salinity control study for the Lower Gunnison Basin is being considered that could parallel and greatly enhance selenium control planning. • Coordination and funding of research and data collection headed by the USGS continues. Baseline information, trend data, and land use data/analyses are under development. Work continues on identifying priority selenium loading areas. Water quality monitoring continues and a new monitoring site was established at the mouth of the North Fork. • Activity for the East Side Delivery System Optimization Planning continued and included work by Cal Poly to plan more efficient systems and work by Reclamation and others to locate and map irrigation features on the east side of the Uncompahgre Project. Mapping on other areas of the basin also continued. • Work is underway with the Biology Committee of the Upper Colorado River Recovery Program to coordinate monitoring in the Gunnison and Colorado rivers and to coordinate fish tissue sampling for selenium. • Design and construction work continued on Phases 3 & 4 within the Uncompahgre Project area which involves piping approximately 22 miles of existing laterals on the east side of the Uncompahgre Valley.