WSP00051

• File Number: 8272.100.60
• Description: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 5/1/1990
• Author: CRBSCF
• Title: Report on the 1990 Review - Water Quality Standards for Salinity - Colorado River System
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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acre-feet per year with an estimated salt load of 119,000 tons per
year. Salinity of the irrigation diversion averages 130 mg/L while
the outflow from McElmo Creek is about 2,600 mg/L at the,
COlorado-Utah State line.

The recommended Reclamation plan to reduce salinity is to line
four sections of Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company canals (three
on the Lone Pine Lateral and one on the Upper Hermana Lateral) and
to install laterals from the proposed lined Towaoc-Highline Canal
(a Dolores Project feature) to serve the Rocky Ford Ditch service
area. The Rocky Ford Ditch would then be abandoned and its flows
would be combined into the newly lined Towaoc-Highline Canal.
These portions of the McElmo Creek Unit have been authorized for
construction as part of the Dolores Project and will reduce
salinity by 24,500 tons annually.

The Final Supplements to the Definite Plan Report and Final
Environmental Statement were completed, approved and filed on March
24, 1989. The Record of Decision was signed in July 1989.

The construction contract for Reach 1 of the Towaoc Canal was
awarded and work will begin in FY 90. A construction contract
award for Reach 2 is scheduled for April 1990. The design data
packages for Reach 3 and the lateral, system on the ute Mountain
lands are complete and awaiting selection of the A&E Design
contractor. The design data package, for the Rocky Ford Laterals
will be submitted in January 1990 with an award scheduled for
September 1991. The design package for lining the Upper Hermana
Lateral and the Lone Pine Lateral will be submitted in December
1991 with award scheduled for September 1991.

The USDA McElmo Creek Salinity Control report was prepared in
1983 and the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was published in
1989. The plan includes provisions for gravity pressure for
sprinkler irrigation for 10,400 acres'and pumped pressure for 9,300
acres. Inaddi tion, improved surface irrigation systems 'will be
installed on 1,850 acres. The plan includes onfarm improvements
on a total of 21,550 acres. In 1990, USDA allocated cost-sharing
funds for contracts in the McElmo Creek project. USDA staff are
in the Cortez, Colorado, field office and implementation activities
are underway.

The Reclamation and USBR programs are fully compatible, and
a coordinated effort has been made to assure that implementation
of Recl,amation' s delivery and distribution systems will complement
design and installation of the onfarm system.

Moapa ValibY (USDA). The project covers a 5,000-acre
irrigated area on Muddy River upstream of Lake Mead. The project
will include installation of 17 miles of underground piped aelivery
system, onfarm water management, and salinity control practices.
By reducing over irrigation and excessive deep percolation, +'":,e
average annual salt load is expected to be reduced by 19,500 tons.

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