WSP00913

• File Number: 8272.600.60
• Description: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program - Basin Member State Info - Utah
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 3/7/1975
• Title: Colorado Regional Assessment Study - Phase One Report for the National Commission on Water Quality - Part 2 of 2 -- Chapter VI - end
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

social classes. An "equity" criterion would also be required to define

a socia 1 optimum. Under such a criterion, social welfare may be en-

~'
o hanced by permitting low income irrigators to capture higher marginal
o
<:) net benefits even though high-income downstream water users suffer

external damages which are greater than the benefits reaped upstream.

Thus, the economic product produced by the system would be lower than

maximum, but the resulting income distribution may be "better". Before

an unambiguous judgement could be rendered about social welfare, the

tradeoff between equity-better and efficiency-worse would have to be known.

This raises a very difficult issue that goe's well beyond economics. Thus,

for economic analysis, the working assumption generally utilized in this

study is that social welfare can be defined by an efficiency criterion

as discussed above.

Young, Franklin, and Noble have succinctly described the measures

that are available to control salinitY'.

Salinity control measures resolve into two basic types:
measures to augment flow and measures to reduce salt input.
Possible augmentation methods include: 1) importation of high-
quality water, 2) weather modification to increase precipitation
of low saline waters, 3) utilization of water produced from geo-
thermal energy resources, and 4) conservation of water by reducing
non-beneficial evapo-transpirationthrough: phreatophyte control,
surface evaporation control, increasing efficiency of farm use,
decreasing irrigated acreages, and control of future development.
Salt load reduction may take place by: 1) impoundment and evaporation
of major salt contributing springs, wells, and other point
sources; 2) controlling salinity from irrigated lands by elimination
of high salt,producing areas from crop production, decreasing flow
paths of return flows, avoiding contact between discharges and
heavy salt producing areas, exporting or evaporating high salinity
return flows, reducing ground water pump age of high salinity water,
or reducing seepage losses from conveyance facilities; 3) dis-
charging high salinity municipal and industrial wastes into
evaporation ponds; and 4) constructing and operating desalination
plants where feasible.~/

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