|
<br />INTERIOR'SROLE
<br />
<br />F_ CCJOIlllnatlon Is acccimplished using the load
<br />agency conc;ept. 1l1e SecretaJy of the IritoriOr, acting
<br />th""'9h the Bureau of Reclamation, has the I1l8flOI1SIblllty
<br />for implementing salinity oontlOl,measti....l_
<br />coordination Is fo011alized th""'9h a series ofjoinl
<br />agroemen1s 0X8CU1lld at theGabinellevel, COoIdlnatlon at
<br />the field admln_nlcal leVel Is accomplished
<br />th""'9h the Colorado River InlOlllganCY $alInity Control
<br />Commlttae.
<br />
<br />B_ of Rec:IlnIaIIon
<br />
<br />Un"" authol1zed for constnJctk>n llIll the Gnlnd Valley,
<br />Paradox Valley, Cryalal Geyser, and Las Vagas Wosh
<br />Unlls. 1l1e Cryalal G_Unit, U1ah, h8s been indefinitely
<br />postpOI1ed beCa\lSOofpoor___ LasVagas'
<br />Wosh Unit, -. Is being refonnulaled beCause of
<br />changing ground watercondltion&
<br />1l1e Gnond V*i UnIt Stage One<:oruitnJotion,ls nearly
<br />complete. 1l1e Highllne canal lining in Stage One Is
<br />compIeb>, as well as the constnJctk>n of the field station,
<br />1l1e _ pipe Ia1enIl consti1.lctkin Isexpectad to be
<br />finished for the 1983 irrigallon season, Resu"" from Stage
<br />One monitoring llIll being evaluated before prooeEIding
<br />wlthconstnJctk>noft!1erestoftheunitMonltoringthvsfSr-. ---
<br />tI8S shown an InltiaJ aimuaJ reduction of 9~00l tons. as a ,
<br />l'8SU1tofUSDAandROclamationefforlainStageOne..... '
<br />1l1e Grand Valley cOntnbutso an 'averllgo of5OO,lXXl
<br />ionS ofaa/lannuaily totilQ Colonldo River: ._from'
<br />earllerastl..- of 7eo,lXXl tons annually: 1l1e~lsa
<br />'""'" of a Iong--tenn water and salt bUdget study made by
<br />combining ......,.; study methoda. Most of the aa/lls
<br />Ieoched from the soil and underlylng marine shale by
<br />_ delivery _ Josses and deep ~ from
<br />agricultural araaa. 1l1e _ Grand Valley.... combined
<br />USDA and ljeClamallon eftortslllllex;iectadtoroduCethe '
<br />aa/lload by aboul410,lXXl tons annually, with an CI'8ralI
<br />effect of roduclng salinity cioncentratforo at imperial Dam
<br />by aboul41 ~ '
<br />
<br />,-
<br />
<br />StudIeaOn the remainder of thO Grand Valley Un" lUll
<br />underway, Stage Two IrMlStIgat/ons include awluatlon of
<br />various dOIlvery aystem comblnallona and lining
<br />attematives. Measures other than lining are aJso being
<br />dO'I9lopad and OI'llIua1Bd, 1l1e USDA will conIinue to
<br />pu..... onfarm Improvemen1a, Including upgrading of
<br />Irrigallon_rel_lataraldlstrlbutlon_and
<br />irrigation _ rnanage<nanl
<br />PlaJ\sto provide for Incldental wildlife habitat
<br />repiacement to compensateforlosaas'...ulting from the
<br />program lUll dependent upon oongrossional
<br />authorization,
<br />,"-V*i in soUthwestsm CoIoradolsacollapsad
<br />aa/l anticline underlain' by a aa/l dome. 1l1e domeadda
<br />abOut 205,lXXl tona of aa/l annually to ,thO Dolo!es River
<br />from saline ground water whlcli orig~ In the VIliIey,
<br />1l1e un" Is deSIgned to "'"""" 180;000 ionS a yearby
<br />pumping the saline ground water (brine of260,lXXl rngIL
<br />TDS) from ahllllow coIl<lct1on wells, along the.OoloIos
<br />River, thus pr8'I8fltlng "from surfacing'in the _,
<br />Deep welllnjectlon has been awlua1ed.. a methOd 01
<br />dlslx>sing of the brine and Is technically, environmentally,
<br />and economically _ After conatructlon of an
<br />Injectlon well, fi_ plant, and pipeline to tasl the
<br />Injectlon _ fordlaposalcapac;ty,adaclslon will be
<br />made on _ to use deep welllnjectlon as a
<br />permanent dlaposal method,
<br />Collection well field tasting and _on will
<br />conIinue, although studlea On evapolllllon pond dlaposal,
<br />an .-. brinO dlaposal rnetI1od, haVa been
<br />suspended untii more Infonnatlon ~awllableon deepwell
<br />Injectlon,
<br />oaw unIls In the CRWOIP (Colorado River Water
<br />Quality Improvement Program) are undOrstudyatvarlous
<br />atages of completion, Thay lUll categorizlld by the tYPe pi
<br />control antlclpa!8d In each unit ,
<br />InIgoIton _ control _ within RaclamatIon
<br />would rod""" aa/lloadlng by Improving Irrigallon delivery
<br />ayslSms that cunentiy leach aa/l from marine ahaIea and
<br />
<br />
<br />UTAH
<br />
<br />
<br />-$-
<br />
<br />NEVAOA
<br />
<br />PriU.SanIlal'"
<br />f\ivel$1Init
<br />
<br />-$-
<br />
<br />.Tftlel15a'lilyConlrollJllilt
<br />O~~Au!hDrlzedIOtConstrvctlon
<br />
<br />other saline sou..... The Lower Gunnison BasIn and
<br />McEJmo Cleek Un"" In ~theUlntaBasln In U1ah:
<br />aricithe Palo Verde Irrigallon llIsIrIct Un" In CallfornlalUll
<br />Irrigallon sources baing "",_ad, improwment of
<br />Irrigation delivery aya18ma InoonjunctJon with USDA
<br />_011 pnlCIloas In these..... appears YiabJoand could
<br />red""" the rlver's aa/lload by aboul1.0 million tons per
<br />Y"O"
<br />1l1e Colorado River Indian __ Un"
<br />invssllgatlons haw> been concludad beCa\lSO of limited
<br />salinity control opportunity, '
<br />PoInt soun:e _ _ would """"'" aa/lfrom '
<br />loCalized ..... such as minerai springs. abandoned 011
<br />wells, and _ GIonwood-IloIsor SprInga and
<br />~er Dome On"", In CoJoriIdo; LaVerlcJn Springa and ' "
<br />, Cryalal Geyser Un"" In Utah; L.owor Vi'llln River Un" In ,
<br />, ".ArizoriO and Nevada; and the Las Vagas Wosh Un" In
<br />, NMda are poInl souroas. 111... wells in the MeeIcOr
<br />, 'Dome....haVabeen....-ullypluggad,acx:ordlngto
<br />. eonymonltoring IepOI1S, SIoppJng aa/lloilding of atxxlt
<br />51.ooitonsannUaiIy,Aprefarr8d plan hasbeen_ln
<br />the GIonwood-IloIsor SprInga iuao, which could rod"""
<br />the aa/lload by 314,lXXl tons annually, '
<br />Because of poor c:ost_ or lack of,a viable
<br />control plan forlhe _explored, Invssllgatlons at
<br />LaVerlcJn Springs. Lower Vi'llln River, and Crystal Geyser
<br />Unifs hlive _ concludad, '
<br />D1irUse soun:e control _ would Involve
<br />wa'"- managomen~ land _and the
<br />collection and disposal of Irrigation 18\UIll- Utah'a
<br />Dirty Devil and Price-San Rafael Rlvanl Un"" and
<br />'WyomIng's llig,sandy River Un" lUllldentllled diffuse
<br />,souroas. Invssllgatlons of diffuse source unlla lUll
<br />examining a combination of Irrigallon Improwments,
<br />vegetation and wala1ahed ~ and_
<br />withdrawal and dlaposal of poor quality streomflowa.
<br />An altamatlYo plan for the Big sandy_Unit, baing
<br />considered by the S1ate of Wyoming, proposes rerJIOYIng
<br />saline_ bycollection wellsinthespringandaoop....
<br />
<br />968l
<br />
<br />I
<br />
<br />
<br />WY(MlG
<br />
<br />UNITS OF THE COLORADO
<br />RIVER WATER QUALITY
<br />IMPRQVEMENTPROGRAM
<br />
<br />.......
<br />
<br />COlQ,
<br />
<br />NEW
<br />MEK-.
<br />
<br />-
<br />
<br />of the Big sandy River and pumping the _ via a
<br />pipeline to a.~ CI1ovron fOrt1l"'" plant near Rock
<br />Springs. oaw aspeclS of the plan require further sbJdy
<br />and support of Industry,
<br />Assuming that all agricultural sou"", unJta and the
<br />Paradox Valley Un" lUllsuccasafully impiemen18d, dJffuae
<br />and point sou"", control unlla would nead to reckJce the
<br />rlver'a aa/lload by an additional 1.0 to 1.6 mllJiontona per
<br />year,
<br />SAIJNE WAlEn USE A1G DISI'OSAL
<br />0PP0Il1\JNmes
<br />A Septamber 1981 Speclal Report suggasts
<br />opportun1llts forcollectlng aallne_lnthO~
<br />River BasIn lor use In theenergyindustry,1l1ecoooepts
<br />.;l6Ye1oped lUll'al1arnatiYas to convantIonal structuiaJ
<br />cOntrol methods Involving lined evaponltJon ponds and
<br />desalination projecls,
<br />About 610,lXXl acre-feet of aaline_peryearcould
<br />becollactad for dlaposal or for, use In ..-..<gy
<br />. daYalopment-for Oooilng coaHJrod ~ and fo<
<br />use In COallnli1spQrtplpellre--and for indusIrIa1
<br />_ Of SpeclalConOem In thesbJdy are lagal and
<br />InsIitutlonaI, environmental, and -.eI1af1ng issues.
<br />TOlailnvastmenta for _ng or ~ 01 the
<br />aallne _ could c:ostfrom $4 billion to $6 billion, willie
<br />-.ance to Industry to accomplish theaamoamountof
<br />salinity control th""'9h beneIlclal use of that_would
<br />require only aboul'one-fourth of that _ -.;
<br />InYaslment
<br />ActIon by the Cong.... III authorIz8 and fund speciflc
<br />saline water use studies and m"'.I8IItatlu.1 activities as
<br />wellas__ofl_bypoJentlalUSlll8ll1ll
<br />, nacesatlIY stsps In ImpIernonting these conoepIa.
<br />The~ poojoclevolved as one__to
<br />useaaline_,111~~of~ngsalinewater
<br />throogh a pipeline to cany coal In plastic capsulea to the
<br />SOuthwost Is baing !>oad.lIed to Include other
<br />technology oplIona. One'altamatlYo lnvoIYaaa~of
<br />. ~ngle pipeline that wllIll1O\'lI a CXlOII1Jquicl-<:aJtlon.
<br />a~ei
<br />
|