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Colorado Foundation for Water Education <br />Upper Colorado River Basin Tour <br />Thursday, June 24, 2004 <br />Paul von Guerard Western Slope Subdistrict Chief <br />U.S. Geological Survey Grand Junction, CO <br />ybvongue(d,usgs.gov, 970 - 245 -5257 ext 14 <br />Stop on Float Trip —An Overview of Salinity Issues in the Upper Colorado River Basin <br />The upper Colorado River basin provides water for up to 23 million people in seven states and Mexico. <br />Water use in the upper basin is a complex mixture of water development and allocation coupled with the <br />aesthetic and biological diversity common to the Rocky Mountains and the Colorado Plateau. The history <br />of water development in the west has been tied to the land. Agriculture, power generation, mining, <br />livestock, and municipal water uses are regulated by a complex array of reservoirs, water rights laws, <br />treaties, and compacts. To foster continued development of water resources, the Colorado River Basin <br />Salinity Control Act of 1974 authorized the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and U.S. Department of <br />Agriculture (USDA) to plan and construct salinity - control projects to decrease salt loading into the <br />Colorado River from agricultural and other sources. Recent studies have indicated that salinity (dissolved <br />solids) may be decreasing in the Colorado and Green Rivers and in some tributary streams. Downward <br />trends in salinity were reported at sites below salinity - control projects; however, downward trends also <br />were reported at sites upstream from salinity projects or in basins not affected by the Federal Salinity <br />Control Program. At this stop on the field trip the following issues will be discussed: <br />- The salinity issue as it relates to man's activities and natural sources. <br />- The effects of population growth on water use and water quality. <br />- A brief overview of data collection and investigations related to salinity issues. <br />Figure 1. Sources of salinity in the Colorado River Basin <br />I <br />106 °39 106°39 <br />COLORADO Kremmling <br />w In.H P ux 0`0`r Q.�VER <br />og3 DENVER O O <br />'Study area t � 2T $G <br />n Glenwoal _ Vall <br />c� <br />le <br />GO`O 4.r <br />6 Carbondale CenteS <br />O Cdr o e o Aspen <br />Grand '&ar <br />Junction <br />\Jye 1. station uwat toq fi y <br />Q` station used to epimale <br />C,unnlaon di,s Wd-solids kud Site <br />her ref— to Table 1 <br />Delta <br />0 50 KILOMETERS <br />Figure 2. Location of Eagle /Carbondale collapse <br />upstream from Grand Junction, Colorado. <br />Sources of additional salinity- related information and publications <br />hltp: / /www.usbr. og v /ug /progact/salinity /; http:// webserver .cr.usg_s.gov /Pubs /index.html, <br />hi!p://usgspubs.jzeoref.org/usgsns.htm <br />