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<br />~$~ <br /> <br />c\) <br />o <br />(;;.:> <br />o <br /> <br />,:'i/', <br />r-i":~Y <br /> <br />.,.... <br />..''',. <br /> <br />FOREWORD <br /> <br />Public Law 93-320, the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of June 1974, <br /> <br /> <br />gives authority for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies to participate <br /> <br />with U.S. Department of.Interior (USDI) agencies and the Environmental Protection <br /> <br /> <br />Agency (EPA) in salinity control investigations in the states of Arizona, <br /> <br /> <br />California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. <br /> <br />Public Law 93-569, the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act Amendment of <br /> <br /> <br />October 1984, directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a major voluntary <br /> <br /> <br />onfarm cooperative salinity control program in areas which contribute <br /> <br /> <br />significantly to the salinity problem in the Colorado River upstream of Imperial <br /> <br />Dam. The Secretary of Agriculture has given the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) <br /> <br /> <br />the responsibility to provide technical assistance for implementing the Salinity <br /> <br /> <br />Control Act, as amended. <br /> <br />The San Juan County Salinity Control Unit in New Mexico drains to the San Juan <br /> <br />River, a tributary of the Colorado River. This unit was identified as a possible <br /> <br />problem area where irrigation may be a nonpoint source of salinity to the <br /> <br />Colorado River. This report addresses the lower portion of the San Juan River on <br /> <br />the Navajo Indian Reservation. <br /> <br />The Navajo Nation Unit is situated in New Mexico but is serviced by SCS offices <br /> <br /> <br />in both New Mexico and Arizona. Because tribal headquarters are located in <br /> <br /> <br />Arizona, the SCS offices in Arizona provide technical assistance to the <br /> <br /> <br />contiguous Navajo Nation. For reservation land in New Mexico, SCS offices in New <br /> <br /> <br />Mexico provide technical assistance to Indian land in checkerboard-ownership <br /> <br /> <br />patterns, and the Navajo Agricultural Products Industries (NAPI), an area of <br /> <br />sprinkler-irrigated cropland owned by the Navajo Nation. <br /> <br />The study was conducted and the report prepared by an interdisciplinary team of <br /> <br /> <br />SCS employees from the Arizona state. office, the Ship rock and Aztec, New Mexico <br /> <br /> <br />field offices, and an employee of the Shiprock Soil and Water Conservation <br /> <br /> <br />District. Considerable technical information and data gathered by the SCS in New <br /> <br />1 <br />