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<br />. (L2320 <br /> <br />Wyoming, and the Grand Valley, McElmo Creek, and Lower Gunnison areas <br />of Colorado have volunteered to pay their requested share of the cost <br />for this water quality control program, with benefits being felt many <br />. hundreds of miles downstream in the United States and Mexico, In <br />addi tion, the Department of Agriculture is proceeding with actions <br />which will implement the Colorado River Salinity Control Program in the <br />Moapa Valley area of Nevada. <br /> <br />RECENT BACKGROUND <br />DETAILED FUND ALLOCATION <br /> <br />The onfarm Salinity Control Program was initiated in the Grand <br />Valley of Colorado and the Uinta Basin area of Utah with the use of ACP <br />funds, With ~ecial~egislation in 1984, a Colorado River salinity <br />control fund line item has been established and the program is being <br />implemented in these five geographic areas, Three years ago the <br />program was started in the Big Sandy area of Wyoming and the Lower <br />Gunnison area of Colorado. In the newly initiated McElmo Creek area <br />contracts are now being signed by farmers. In all five areas, many <br />contracts have been signed and many more contracts are being prepared. . <br />By the end of the current fiscal year, it is anticipated that all of <br />the FY 91 funds will be designated for contracts and technical <br />assistance, FY 91 funds will be totally c.ommi tted while many <br />additional basin farmers are ready to cost share and participate, <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />Three additional areas have been identified in Utah, New Mexico, <br />and Nevada as having very cost-effective salinity control onfarm <br />program potential, and they are included within the overall USDA <br />selected plan, It is planned that the next onfarm salinity control <br />efforts will begin in the Moapa Valley area of Nevada, Under study are <br />the Price-San Rafael area of Utah and the Hammond area in northern New <br />Mexico, These much-needed water quality programs can move ahead with <br />adequate Federal funding as the Basin states and the local farmers are <br />now in a position to financially participate in this cooperative <br />program, The Basin states and the local farmers have funds ready to <br />proceed with this partnership and pay at least 51 percent of the cost <br />of this construction program. <br /> <br />, JUSTIFICATION <br /> <br />The water of the Colorado River system serves some 18 million <br />people and irrigates approximately 1.6 million acres of land in parts <br />of the seven Colorado River Basin states. The River also provides <br />domestic and irrigation water to Mexico. Salini ty has long been <br />recognized as one of the major problems in the River, Water users in <br />the lower reaches of the River system have suffered significant adverse <br />impacts due to the River's salinity, These impacts have been estimated <br />to have reached over $300 million a year in the United States. Without <br />the salinity control measures, the salinity of the River is projected <br />to increase beyond the water quality numeric criteria at Imperial Dam, <br />with continued development of the compact-apportioned waters. The <br />~economic damages suffered by the water users could double by the turn <br />....of the century. , <br />