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J . . PART IV PROGRAM NARRATIVE 1. OBJECTIVES AND NEED FOR THIS ASSISTANCE, The p~oblem to be add~essed by the p~oposed financial assistance is the salt cont~ibution to the Colo~ado Rive~ f~om the G~and Valley Unit as well as salt damage to local ag~icultu~al lands, It has been estimated that the G~and Valley Unit cont~ibutes 580,000 tons Qf salt annually to the Colo~ado Rive~ system, accounting fo~ a salinity concent~ation inc~ease of 42.8 millig~ams pe~ lite~ (mg/L) at Impe~ial Dam, The la~ge salt cont~ibution is att~ibutable to conveyance system seepage losses and deep pe~colation of i~~itation wate~ applications, This wate~ picks up salts as it passes th~ough the weathe~ed shales of the Mancos Fo~mation and eme~ges in the Colo~ado Rive~, The ir~igation delive~y systems fo~ the G~and Valley consist of both p~ivate and Fede~al developments, The p~ivate canals a~e ope~ated by the G~and Valley I~~igation Company, and the Mesa County, O~cha~d Mesa, and Palisade I~rigation Dist~icts. The late~als se~ved by the p~ivate canals a~e ope~ated by loosely o~ganized g~oups o~, in many cases, an individual wate~ use~. P~ivately-owned late~als serve about 75 pe~cent of the valley's landowne~s who ~eceive i~~igation wate~ th~ough 634 p~ivate late~al systems, This amounts to app~oximately 10,000 wate~ users who a~e se~ved by the p~ivate lateral systems. The Bureau of Reclamation's (BOR) recommended plan fo~ Stage Two of the G~and Valley Unit as presented in the d~aft Envi~onmental Impact Statement filed Septembe~ 24, 1985, p~oposes lining approximately 40 miles of canal and placing 300 miles of the late~al system in pipe to ~educe the seepage, which in tu~n cont~ibutes to the salt loading. The objective of this Coope~ative Agreement is fo~ the State of Colorado, Colo~ado Wate~ Conservation Boa~d (CWCB) to (1) o~ganize existing entities and/o~ newly formed entities into o~ganizations with legal authority capable of cont~acting with the United States and (2) coordinate the development of coope~ative ag~eements fo~ the legal entities which will p~omote the completion of BOR's Stage Two of the G~and Valley Unit. Unde~ the p~oposed coope~ative ag~eement5, the entities would secur'e ~ight-of-way agreements, con5t~uct, ope~ate, maintain, and allow inspection of the salinity cont~ol imp~ovements p~oposed in the BOR ~ecommended plan. 2. RESULTS OR BENEFITS EXPECTED. Benefits to be derived from this action would be an estimated salt loading reduction to the Colo~ado Rive~ system of 143,500 tons pe~ year o~ a salinity concentration reduction of about 13.1 mg/L at Impe~ial Dam. 9