WSPC01779

• File Number: 8272
• Description: Colorado River - Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program - CRBSCP
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 2/1/1989
• Title: Salinity Update - February 1989
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

002321 . -..

INTERIOR ROLE 12

Diffuse source salinity control
activities involve watershed
management, land treatment, and
the collection and disposal of
irrigation return flows. Utah's Dirty
Devil River and Price-San Rafael
Rivers Units, Wyoming's Big Sandy
River Unit, Nevada's Lower Virgin
River Unit, and New Mexico's
San Juan River Unit are identified
diffuse sources.

Saline Water Use and Disposal
Opportunities: Past Reclamation'
research activities include such
items as the use of saline water for
cooling systems, solution mining
with saline water, power prod uction
from solar salt gradient ponds, ion
exchange water softening, and use
of saline water in a salt tolerant
emergent plant process. Current
activities are limited to seeking out
cost-sharing opportunities to
beneficially use saline water (refer to
"Where to Now" discussion).

Bureau of Land
Management

Public Law 98-320, directed the
Secretary of the Interior to develop a
comprehensive program to
minimize salt contributions from
lands administered by BLM. The
July 1987 Report to Congress,
Salinity Control on BLM -
Administered Public Lands in the
Colorado River Basin, addressed the
extent of salt contributed from
public lands, current actions, and
future recommendations to achieve
the objective of minimizing salinity
contributions while recognizing

multiple-use objectives and
authorized uses.

Salinity control is identified as a
resource issue in several resource
management plans within the
Colorado River Basin. Through the
planning system, a total of
12 activity plans in Colorado, Utah,
and Wyoming were developed since
1983 in which salinity control has
been identified as one of the
objectives.

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Currently, BLM is concentrating )
on developing Comprehensive
Watershed Planning and Economic
Analysis procedures which will be
tested on Colorado River Basin
rangelands. The emphasis is on
producing multiple use benefits
including salt and reduction. The
"holistic approach" to the planning
process will evaluate various
alternatives including grazing
management to determine the most
cost-effective measures for
achieving multiple use objectives.

Geological Survey

The USGS, Water Resources
Division, operates and maintains
streamflow-gauging and water
quality sampling stations in the
Colorado River basin to provide the
data necessary for ongoing analysis
of the salinity control program.
Each year, the USGS updates the
monthly and annual values of
streamflow and salinity at 20 key
sites in the Basin. These values are
part of the data required by the
Colorado River Simulation System