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<br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />in the Arkansas River Valley due to any change in water management <br />practice. We have tested a number of plans on that and tested the <br />model against historic records and have what we predict is a very <br />good agreement. <br /> <br />The next step in this whole thing is to use this tool for adminis- <br />trative purposes. Foreseeing that, Larry then talked with Mr. Kuiper <br />who has agreed to accept the program of the Geological Survey and <br />use it in the administration of water now. This tool is going to be <br />described today. The results of the study is one element in the <br />total program. We recognized early in the investigation that water <br />quality was going to be a serious problem and could develop into <br />serious hot spots throughout the valley if we altered the water <br />management practices in the area without taking into consideration <br />what would happen to the water quality. <br /> <br />To present that to you this morning, then, is the pri~cipal inves- <br />tigator, Leonard Konikow. Leonard. <br /> <br />Mr. Konikow: <br />out first. I <br />we can finish <br /> <br />I have some abstracts of this report which I will pass <br />will try to keep the report to twenty minutes so that <br />up by noon. <br /> <br />Because of the semi-arid to arid climate of Colorado and other western <br />states, irrigation is usually required to obtain successful crop yields. <br />However, the return flow of irrigation water to a river is believed <br />to be a major contributor to downstream salinity increases. Likewise, <br />irrigation practices are believed to account for much of the observed <br />variation in the quality of ground water in the shallow stream aquifer <br />system. Recently, the Geological Survey has devevloped numerical <br />techniques using a high-speed visual computer which can predict the <br />rates and directions of movement of contaminants or dissolved solids <br />through a body of ground water. <br /> <br />(Slide) Today, I am going to discuss the application of this modeling <br />technique to a problem, specifically in the Arkansas River Valley in <br />southeastern Colorado where water quality problems are believed to <br />be related to irrigation practices. Again, the purpose of this study <br />was to demonstrate the applicability and reliability of this modeling <br />technique to water quality problems related to irrigation. The <br />study (Slide) was conducted in such ways that detailed field measure- <br />ments were made for a one-year period and these then were to be <br />compared with the data predicted or calculated by the simulation <br />model. The success of such a model would be of somewhat obvious value. <br /> <br />-22- <br />