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<br />W <br />"l <br />co <br />0') <br /> <br />Las Vegas Wash (Reclamation). Las Vegas Wash is a natural <br />drainage channel providing the only surface water outlet for the <br />entire Las Vegas Valley. The lower portion is now a perennial <br />stream as a result of waste water effluent and ground water <br />discharges. Flow in the Wash has increased steadily in recent <br />years due primarily to increased sewage discharges resulting from <br />a rapidly growing population. This wastewater carries a salt load <br />of 160,000 tons per year and leaches an additional 90,000 tons of <br />salt per year as the water flows into the Wash. <br /> <br />Over <br />strategies <br />strategies <br />develop a <br /> <br />a number of years, Reclamation identified several <br />for reducing salinity in the Wash. However, none of the <br />were cost effective. Reclamation ceased its efforts to <br />salinity reduction program for the Wash. <br /> <br />Prior to discontinuing its efforts, Reclamation constructed <br />a pipeline to convey industrial water discharge in Henderson to the <br />Wash (Pittman). This water was previously released to an open <br />ditch and a portion of the water infiltrated leaching salt on its <br />way to ultimate discharge in the Wash. Confinement of the ,water <br />to a pipe reduced salt in the Wash by an estimated 3,800 tons a <br />year. <br /> <br />A final planning report on Reclamation salinity control <br />efforts in Las Vegas Wash was completed in September 1989. <br /> <br />Uinta Basin (Reclamation and USDA). The Uinta Basin Unit is <br />in northeastern Utah and includes portions of Duchesne and Uinta <br />Counties and contributes about 450,000 tons of salt annually to the <br />Colorado River System. Return flows from 204,000 acres of <br />irrigated land account for much of the salt contribution. <br /> <br />Reclamation Phase I studies showed the only viable alternative <br />in the study area is canal lining. About 56 miles of the total 240 <br />miles of canals and laterals in the Uinta Basin would be lined. <br />Project implementation would reduce the salt load to the Colorado <br />River by an estimated 21,000 tc 30,000 tons per year and reduce <br />canal seepage by about 16,800 acre-feet per year, of which about <br />4,600 acre-feet could be used to reduce irrigation shortages. <br /> <br />A planning report/draft environmental impact statement on the <br />unit was filed with Environmental Protection Agency and released <br />to the public on April 25, 1986. The final document was completed <br />and filed with the EPA in 1987. Congressional authorization of <br />Uinta Basin Phase I is needed before implementation can proceed. <br /> <br />The Phase II study was completed in 1989. The study evaluated <br />the salinity control poteh~ial of areas and opportunities not <br />studied under the Phase I program. The My ton Townsite Canal be <br />included in the planned improvements for the unit. Lining 3.2 <br />miles of the My ton Townsite ,Canal would remove 2,150 tons of salt <br />at a cost effectiveness of $90 per ton. The report also recommends <br />evaluating a winter water replacement program alternative in future <br />studies. <br /> <br />32 <br />