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<br />GG218-4- - <br /> <br />allocated to the states to make up for any resultant shortage in Mexico's <br />a.llocat ion. <br /> <br />Since the original cost authorization was established, program costs have <br />significantly increased. As a result, Congress increased the authorized <br />cost ceiling to $356.4 million (at January 1979 prices) in 1980. The <br />Bureau attributes the increased funding needs to the preliminary nature <br />of original estimates. design changes to incorporate state-of-the-art <br />technology, inflation, and the addition of funding to institute measures <br />te mitigate the program's impact on fish and wildlife. The estimated <br />cost of the entire Title I program as of January 1988 increased to $485.5 <br />million. This does not include any estimated cost for the development of <br />the required replacement water source. But while the funding level has <br />increased, the planned operational capacity of the plant has decreased. <br />Originally, a plant capable of producing 90 million gallons of good, <br />usable water per day was to be constructed. However, Wellton-Mohawk <br />irrigation drainage was reduced below the expected 175,000 acre-feet to <br />about 108,000 acre-feet by the Federal program of acreage reduction and <br />irrigation improvements. This success allowed the Bureau to scale down <br />the plant to one with a production capacity of 72 million gallons of <br />water per day and a design that would allow expansion to 96 million <br />~allons of water per day. About $60 million of the currently estimated <br />cost ($485.5 million) relates to the possible expansion to the <br />96-million-gallon capacity_ <br /> <br />Currently, the desalting plant is almost complete but still must be <br />tested. It is not expected to be operational until 1992. Once on-line, <br />it is projected that the cost to operate the plant will range from $6 <br />million (standby costs only) to $25 million a year, depending on how much <br />Wellton-Mohawk irrigation drainage has to be processed to meet the water <br />quality standards. Based on past experience, there may be several years <br />when it will be necessary to operate the plant for only part of the- vear <br />or not at all. For example, from 1983 to 1987. high annual River fiows <br />made it unlikely that any irrigation drainage would have had to have been <br />treated because there was sufficient River volume to replace all the <br />problem drainage diverted to the Santa Clara Slough without reducing the <br />basin states' water allocation. As long as the Wellten-Mohawk irrigation <br />drainage can be replaced with high River flows. the plant would not need <br />to operate in order to maintain the established water quality <br />requirement:. <br /> <br />The objective of the Title II program was to prevent salinity in the <br />lower portion of the Colorado River from exceeding acceptable levels <br />established jointly by the seven basin states, The Bureau plans to meet <br />the objective by constructing various types of facilities to prevent salt <br />from entering the River. Direct intervention is necessary to offset <br />salinity increases caused by the expanding use of the basin's water. <br /> <br />By 1974, development of the Colorado River basin had already doubled the <br />River's natural salinity, The upper basin was less c.eveloped than the <br />lo..er basin and ..as using only about 3,5 million ac:re-feet of the 7.5 <br />million acre-feet of River water allocated to it. However, future water <br />development projects were expected to significantly increase upper basin <br />development. To counteract additional lower basin salinity level <br /> <br />3 <br />