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<br />I <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />On the Gunnison, we figure about 60 percent of the salt load is coming <br />off about 25 percent of the irrigated area. <br /> <br />The Grand Valley project is a USDA project. I would point out that <br />in addition to the ASCS and Soil Conservation Service, Ag Research <br />has a role and CSU and the Farmers Home Administration has a role. <br />So it is a cooperative program. <br /> <br />The preliminary report on Grand Valley, as far as the on-farm portion, <br />showed that by installing the on-farm equipment we could reduce the <br />salt load by about 130,000 tons ,of salt a year. It is interesting that <br />the estimate to do that was 10 years, but the cost estimate was $21 <br />million. : And Congress last year in its wisdom of dividing 21 by .10 <br />came up with 1.7. But we are going to be $4 million short 10 years <br />from now. <br /> <br />But the original estimate was .$21 million. The' department and the <br />USDA did set aside from ongoing appropriations--this was not new money; <br />this was taken from existing funding sources--they did earmark $1.7 <br />million for the on-farm portion for the calendar year 1979 and also <br />earmarked money for technical assistance to the Soil Conservation <br />Service. Mr. Ott has gone over the funding limitations, and I will <br />skip that part. <br /> <br />The value of the. ,requests .that we have served so far. amount to about <br />$1.8 million. The Soil Conservation Service has: prepared 104 on-farm <br />salinity control programs, and we presently have 25 jobs ready for <br />construction. We have 31 jobs under construction. <br /> <br />Now, you' might. be'. interested' in what:, $1. 7 million.buys:as far. as on-: <br />farm practices .c', That. would include 1,030: acres of land leveling, <br />86:,000 linear .feet of underground pipe, 35 ,5:75 feet of concrete ditch <br />lining,' 84,000' feetof'ported"automated::concrete ditch and about. 300 <br />acres. in sprinklerc irrigation.. : b _ <br /> <br />As I said at the start, I will have a written report that I will <br />submit for the record. But that is, in summary, where: we are, in the <br />USDA portion of the program. <br /> <br />There are probably two problems in the Grand Valley that 'we: have no . <br />control on. One is materia1--we may run into a shortage of material-- <br />and the other is contractors. Outside of that, the Bureau and the Soil <br />Conservation Service'.and other:.agencies ,are now discussing the' time <br />schedule of the laterals of the on-farm portion of the program. The <br />$21 million does not include the laterals, and we are doing some of <br />that now on',the on,.farm'portion. So there, is, a problem area there. <br /> <br />-21- <br />