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<br />to- <br />'w <br />~ <br />. ~ Testimony <br /> <br />Following the passage of the Federal Water Pollution Control <br />Act Amendments of 1972 (P.L. 92-500), the seven states of the <br />Colorado River Basin organized the Colorado River Basin Salinity <br />Control Forum (hereinafter referred to as the Forum) for the <br />purpose of fostering a coordinated, basinwide approach to the <br />salinity problem in the Colorado River system. The objective of <br />this coordinated, basinwide approach is the maintenance of <br />salinity in the lower mainstem of the Colorado River at the <br />concentrations occurring in 1972 (expressed as numeric criteria) <br />while the states continue to develop their compact apportioned <br />waters. In order to maintain the numeric salinity criteria in <br />the lower mainstem which have been adopted by the states and <br />approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, it has been <br />estimated that about 2.8 million tons of the approximately 10 <br />million tons of salt which now enter the river on an average <br />annual basis will need to be removed by the turn of the century. <br /> <br />,. <br /> <br />In recognition of the federal role in and responsibility for <br />a water quality problem which has both interstate and inter- <br />national dimensions, Congress passed the Colorado River Basin <br />Salinity Control Act (P.L. 93-320) in 1974. That Act consists of <br />two titles. Title I addresses the water quality programs which <br />are needed to fulfill agreements between the United States and <br />Mexico. Title II of the Act deals with those measures upstream <br />of Imperial Dam which will reduce salt loading to the river. <br /> <br />Since the passage of the Act in 1974, ten years of <br />experience have been gained with the completion of several <br />planning studies, the acquisition of considerable base-line data, <br />and the initiation of two of the salinity control projects <br />originally authorized by the Act. Based upon this experience, it <br />has become evident that Title II of the Act needs to be updated <br />and expanded to reflect the newer information and greater <br />understanding which we now have. <br /> <br />The main amendments to Title II of the Act which the Forum <br />seeks are as follows: <br /> <br />(1) Authorization of several new salinity control projects <br />for construction by the Department of the Interior, <br />including jOint ventures with non-federal entities to <br />demonstrate saline water use technologies, <br /> <br />(2) Clarification of the responsibility for long-term <br />operation and maintenance and for replacement of such <br />salinity control projects, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />(3) Authorization for the Department of Agriculture to <br />implement a voluntary cooperative program of technical <br />and cost-sharing assistance for private land owners in <br />order to improve on-farm water management practices, <br /> <br />-2- <br />