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<br />III;:!} Cmw',)' Nert.s - ....'m.em1Jer 20. 198'.;}7
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<br />
<br />Salt (roll1 alldl'llt SC;l" found In Colurado's Mafl{'o"i Shale forlllallon
<br />
<br />rrogam now includes more Ih.an 20 pro-
<br />jCCl~,
<br />Congress ~av(': responsibility fnr
<br />both Title I and Title lito the Bureau of
<br />Rcclnmntion, and laler included the U.S.
<br />Otpanmcnt o( Agriculturc for "on-(arm"
<br />worlt.
<br />
<br />A It,riblt SIn"
<br />
<br />""B
<br />' oth the TItlc I and Title II pro-
<br />grams lot off to a tmiblc Slart. At the
<br />lime, no nonpoint pollution Jlrogram.~
<br />u.blCd. The Bureau o( Redammion hml
<br />almost no information tJn the mechanics
<br />or the sail problem nntl there were no
<br />proven slrlllc}::ies to tkal with lJ1C proh.
<br />lem, The Burellu initiated ~orcs of stud-
<br />lei which focused almost eAclusivcly on
<br />~t.ac, ~ph..l.lntenslvc projects, such as
<br />~ Lbo,Yuma desalling plan! and lining
<br />~"
<br />canal.~ with concrete.
<br />Five years later nothing h.ltl !leen
<br />construCled under 11th.- II, The Bl!re:1lI
<br />wn. h,."in;n" In rlln fl.., or till""'\, [",
<br />
<br />no 5o...lt h;1\1 been removed, the Bure;Hl
<br />wa1 close to running out of money and
<br />agel1(:y officials wcre nervous.
<br />"It was stoppell dead, says Mike
<br />Clinlon, the "hit man," sel1l in by the
<br />Bureau in the fall of 1979 to rescue Ihe
<br />project. I
<br />
<br />]'''' /lUTt(lU WflI i",",o/liliutl
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<br />C !inIOn ,~ays Ihe project sllf-
<br />fered from Iluee main flrohlcms, the
<br />worst of which .....a.~ bureaucracy,
<br />Clilllon, now Ihe vice president of
<br />an engineering firm in California, ~ays
<br />Bureau tcchnician~ had corne up with
<br />scveraltheuries aoolll how to re(lure 5<111
<br />Ieve]s in the river, hut aU were exrcllsive
<br />lInd unlesled, Agency officials were
<br />unwilling to risk lesting lhose theories
<br />and inSlead kepI refining their studies,
<br />Say~ Clinton, "The Salinity Control
<br />Program was in a vcry c1as~ic Shill)'
<br />loop."
<br />TI,~ T'~""#,..," .1. :r' 'r.
<br />
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<br />~
<br />.
<br />~
<br />5"
<br />o
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<br />a
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<br />lcast partially. Title I is the (uuhest
<br />along.
<br />ny 198(1 the SCS and farnH'rs in
<br />Yuma had installed a full range o( water
<br />conservation techniques: concrete dilch
<br />liners. piped laterals. lasC'r.]evclled
<br />fielils, sprinklC'r,~ aJlll other high-.elficicn-
<br />cy irri~rttion practirC's, anti prC'Cisc mea-
<br />suring (b'ices. In addition. 10,000 acres
<br />of lJ1C 6S,()()().3Crc district were l:lken Qut
<br />of production. Together, the nl('asurC's
<br />reduced Wellton.Mohawk's irrigation
<br />consumption by 100,000 acre-feet a
<br />year, at a cost o( $27 million fWIIl the
<br />federal government and $6.R million
<br />from lJle fanncrs.
<br />The Yuma des<llini/alion plant has
<br />not workcd '<<J well. Conslruclion of lJle
<br />massive, reverse.osmosis plan I ocgan ill
<br />]980, bUI il won't he fully opcrable until
<br />1992. Cost overruns have increa.scd lJ1C
<br />planl'~ price tag to \lver S3RR million,
<br />although Ihe SCS's success :1\ reducing
<br />WC'llton-Mnhawk's irrigation draina!zc
<br />may allow the BUrc.1U 10 scale down the
<br />proj<'-et and sa\'e S60 million. In addition
<br />10 being expensive to build, it will cost
<br />atx.Jut $20 million a y('.ar to operale.
<br />Rob Steele, the nureau's public
<br />relatiollS ofl"icer in Yuma, 5o...ys the fe(!cr-
<br />31 government win pay Ihe 1.1h: "When
<br />Congress alllhorilcd Ihe Salinity Conuol
<br />Plflgralll it did sn knowing thaI it was
<br />based nn soda] and pnlilica] justifira.
<br />lion, 110t 011 cronmic justification."
<br />SIeve Magnuss('n, assistant 10 thc
<br />director of lJ1C Ilurc:m's Lower Colorado
<br />region, says the combinctl Title I wQlk
<br />will COSI S4R5.S million when finished,
<br />bllt will easily meet the counuy's Ire:ny
<br />obligalions 10 ~le.,ico.
<br />"Ihe Tille II program is way behind.
<br />Stan Gappa, the Bureau's Salinity
<br />Control ProJ::rarn coordinator, estimates
<br />the projccl must remove onc million Ions
<br />of salt a )'(,M by 2nlllln kee(1 Ihe riVeT'S
<br />r.'l!i~d"_, 1".1: llP' I.. ------L .., ,"
<br />
<br />Burc.au st;ati.stics prcdict a violnlioll
<br />of thC' s!....nllards a... early a... 1993 unless
<br />mille sa]inilY nmtrnl projccts arc implc-
<br />lIlenl('d snon. USDA I'ro~ral11 ('('mdina.
<br />t()r Ken Pilney So1yS that the only (C.1S11n
<br />Ihe standards haven't been violated
<br />already is Ihat the Colorado River's
<br />re("ord high nows in till' mill-19HOs 1111.
<br />luled salt levels, while an une:\pct'tl.'d
<br />reduction in the. number and p;l(e 01
<br />de\'cl()plTll.'nt projccts has slowed lJll.' r:lIe
<br />al which salt i.s adlkd tn the riwr.
<br />"Now it's swinging around," he
<br />says. "F]ows arc dr(lppin~ off ami the
<br />501linity Clm("entr:uinns arc swinging up."
<br />rimcy is confidcllllhe I'lllgram ("an
<br />calch up. Nine prnject~ arc on-line :lI1d
<br />working, and he says thc I....." 3!:encies
<br />arc leallling how 10 increase their ('r!('(.
<br />tivent'ss. 1 he .....Olk is split into tworanf.
<br />The SCS is IC'sponsiblc for the on.(arm
<br />work and Ihe BUreau is responsihle for
<br />c\'l.'r)'thing e]se: the eanal~ and laleral"
<br />that hring walcr 10 the famlS as well a~
<br />natural, municipal and indu~trial sources
<br />nfsall.
<br />
<br />~
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<br />".
<br />W
<br />
<br />"^'
<br />
<br />c.;
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<br />The RUlC'all has five nrx-rating pro.
<br />j{'('lS. T......o projccls lined irrigation canals
<br />in Colorado's Grand Valley with con.
<br />crete and pipe. Two more con!.1in So1lty
<br />rulloff fmm Las Vegas Wash in Neva(l3.
<br />The fifth Cllt salt by $ealin!Z an old nil
<br />.....e\l in Meeker, Colo. Ilct.....een them
<br />thC'y relllOve an estimated K3,500 ton~ of
<br />salin ye:lr.
<br />Ihsl'<I11n capi!.11 COS!.S, the f'i\'e pro-
<br />jccts will remo....e sail al about S9-' a IOn.
<br />BUI the chearest half of the Bureau's
<br />work - 48,()(KI tons at S 14 a ton -
<br />came ahout a" the IC'sult of an accidcnt.
<br />
<br />(Co1ltlnlli'd 011 pagl' 28)
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