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ru ~ IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS ~ ~, Major USDA activities on implementation projects are focused upon onfarm irrigation water management improvements and related irrigation lateral delivery systems improvements. Major objectives are to improve'irrigation water use efficiencies and to reduce irrigation waters from deep percolation into saline substrata underlying the irrigated croplands. A cross section of existing USDA agency programs, authorities, and staffing are utilized in the implementation program efforts to date. Among these are the SCS, the ASCS, the ES, and the ARS. There is also extensive input and assistance provided by the State level Cooperative Extension Service, the agricultural land grant colleges, the local conservation districts, and local'irrigation districts. Title I - Wellton-Mohawk, Arizona The Well ton-Mohawk project was the first irrigation improvement program implemented. Authority for USDA and SCS participation in the Well ton-Mohawk Irrigation Improvement Program is contained in Title I of public Law 93-320, the November 1974 MOU between the USDI and USDA, and the December 1974 MOA between the USSR and the SCS. Rules and regulations for administer,ing the program were published in the Federal Reqister on March 29, 1976. The SCS operations handbook used at the field level to develop conservation plans of operations and to prepare'and execute contracts with landowners and operators was issued July 1, 1975. The SCS enters in~o contracts with eligible landowners and operators (cooperators) to install conservation practices that will directly contribute to the objectives of the program. The SCS contract provides for, technical assistance and irrigation water management efficiency checks over a 2-year period after installation of the practices. A cost-share rate of 75 percent Federal and 25 percent cooperator has been established by the Secretary of the Interior. Funds to cover the contract cost sharing and the SCS technical services are transferred periodically from the USBR to the SCS under the Title I MOA. In FY 1981, 39 contracts were signed between cooperators and the SCS on 4,799 acres. This involved $1,686,983 of Federal funds and $562,328 of cooperator funds. Land eligible to participate in the SCS onfarm improvement program includes all irrigable land in the district as established by the 'Report of productivity Reexamination Board, wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District,' dated July 3, 1973. Formerly, the USBR had identified certain lands in the district for purchase as part of the acreage reduction program, making this land ineligible to participate in the SCS program. With the completion of the USBR'S acreage reduction program, all irrigable land in the district is now eligible to participate in the SCS onfarm improvement program. The SCS establishes planning and installation priorities in order to use effectively the resources allocated to this program. priorities are established by considering historical irrigation efficiencies and crops grown, 9