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<br />historical irrigation water rights to wetland replacement purposes, More typically wetlands <br />preservation has posed an obstacle to improving irrigation efficiency, since wetlands created <br />by irrigation losses are jeopardized by reductions in those losses, <br /> <br />2. U.S, Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) <br /> <br />The Corps has dual roles, acting as an environmental regulator and also as a project <br />developer and operator, Major facilities operated by the Corps include John Martin and <br />Trinidad Reservoirs in the Arkansas basin and Chatfield, Bear Creek and Cherry Creek <br />Reservoirs in the South Platte basin, Re-allocation of flood control capacity at federal <br />reservoirs could result in new ways of managing irrigation water and possibly produce saved <br />or salvaged water. Revised operating procedures at these facilities could reduce evaporation <br />losses or in other ways lead to water salvage, Under its Section 404 permit responsibilities <br />the Corps could require improved irrigation efficiencies as mitigation for wetland impacts <br />of new irrigation development (similar to the conservation measures Denver was required <br />to adopt during Two Forks permitting), The typical new irrigation development involves <br />supplemental water for existing senior, but inadequate, water rights, Mandated conservation <br />could result in salvage or savings of water available under those existing rights. <br /> <br />3, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) <br /> <br />The USBR also is a project operator and developer outside of its role in the salinity <br />program, It has programs to improve irrigation efficiency even where salinity is not a <br />problem, While the federal subsidies are smaller, programs such as Rehabilitation and <br />Betterment Loans are attractive to users of federally developed water and can result in <br />water savings or salvage, USBR also has a statutorily mandated duty to require <br />development of water conservation plans under the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982. <br />While USBR is requiring such plans from all users taking water from their projects, they do <br />not yet require implementation of those plans, Still, the plans themselves may lead users <br />to take steps which result in water salvage, and in the future may become the basis for <br />mandatory efficiency improvement efforts, As a project operator USBR is subject to the <br />same environmental laws that all water users face, and has been required to modify project <br />operations (eg, the Newlands Project in Nevada) to mitigate environmental impacts, <br />Modification could result in water salvage which might be claimed by either USBR or local <br />water users, depending on who held the project water rights or paid for the project <br />modifications, <br /> <br />The USBR is also involved in efforts to extend the useful life of non-tributary aquifers, <br />such as the Ogallala in eastern Colorado, by enabling well irrigators to become more <br />efficient. The USBR's Closed Basin Project adjacent to the Rio Grande could be viewed <br />as a federal salvage project already being implemented, This project salvages groundwater, <br />in part produced by irrigation seepage, by pumping it out of the Closed Basin and into the <br />Rio Grande, thereby making it available for water users according to their existing priorities <br />and the Rio Grande Compact, <br /> <br />13 <br />