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<br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />The Uinta Basin Unit investigation in northeastern Utah is part of the <br />comprehensive Colorado River Water Quality Improvement Program (CRWQIP) <br />which is designed to identify and implement programs to improve the water <br />quality of the Colorado River. The purpose of this status report is to <br />inform concerned interests of the costs and impacts associated with the <br />different alternatives under consideration. The report also describes the <br />setting, explains the public involvement process used in plan formulation, <br />and outlines problems and needs of the area. The plan formulation process <br />is described, including alternatives considered. Environmental impacts are <br />explored and future activities are discussed. <br /> <br />Authorization <br /> <br />The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 (Public <br />Law 93-320) provides for the construction, operation, and maintenance of <br />certain works in the Colorado River Basin to control the salinity of water <br />delivered to users in the United States and Mexico. Under the act, the <br />Secretary of the Interior was directed to expedite planning studies on 12 <br />salinity control units of a basinwide program to control the salinity of <br />Colorado River water, including the Uinta Basin Unit. <br /> <br />Title I of the Act authorizes the construction of facilities to <br />enable the United States to comply with its obligations under the agree- <br />ment with Mexico of August 30, 1973 (Minute No. 242 of the International <br />Boundary and Water commission, United States and Mexico). In brief, Title <br />I provides the means of accomplishing Minute No. 242, which requires that <br />water delivered to Mexico have an average annual salinity of no more than <br />115 ppm + 30 ppm greater than the Colorado River water arriving at Imperial <br />Dam upstream of the United States-Mexican border (ppm is a measure of the <br />parts per million concentration of total dissolved solids, an indicator <br />of salinity concentration es&entia11y equivalent to concentrations expressed <br />in mg/L). <br /> <br />Title II of the act provides for programs to control the salinity <br />of the Colorado River upstream from Imperial Dam to meet salinity standards <br />established by the seven Colorado River Basin States. Title II also <br />authorized the construction of four salinity control units: Paradox <br />Valley and Grand Valley Units in Colorado, Crystal Geyser Unit in Utah, <br />and Las Vegas Wash Unit in Nevada. <br /> <br />Title II authorized and directed the Secretary of the Interior to <br />expedite the completion of planning reports listed in the Secretary's <br />report, "Colorado River Water Quality Improvement Program, Februa,y 1972" <br />which is essentially the Colorado River Water Quality Improvement Program. <br />The Water Quality Improvement Program is a general investigation program <br />developed in early 1971 by the Bureau of Reclamation. Subsequent legislation, <br />Public Law 96-375 of October 3, 1980, specifically authorized feasibi1ity- <br />level studies on the Uinta Basin and nine other salinity control units. <br /> <br />,'-; I" l" 4 r.~ ( <br />\/ ..... . v.L <br />