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! .. , . ." ~< . ol:>. I-< ();:) o . " .. " :;,.-,-'. The control of salinity on the scale needed in the Colorado River Basin will undoubtedly involve a combination of several individual control measures in each area of salinity contribution. For any specific source of salinity, local conditions will dictate that some measures will be more feasible than others. Furthermore, the measures best suited to an area's conditions change with the level of control scheduled in the area, For example, in an irrigated area contributing 500,000 Mgm to the river system annually. of which 20 per- cent is to be controlled, lining several miles of the major canals may be the least costly alternative. However, if the desired level of salinity control was increased to 60 percent, the optimal salinity control strategy may involve canal lining as well as several forms of on-farm improvements. Any time more than a single salinity control measure is employed, the relationship between . .th~marginal costs of control and the marginal reductions in salinity will increase with the scale or leyel. of. the program (l,alker, 1978), Consequently.. the most important decision regarding salinity control in the Colorado River . .... . '.Basin is the optimal level and manner of abatement to be achieved at each salinity source. ..,... . ." ~. . OlI.JECTIVES OF Il.'VESTIGATION The principal objective of this research effort is to apply an optimiza- tional analysis to salinity control planning in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRa) in order to identify the most cost-effective strategies for alleviating salinity detriments downstream. Intermediate goals of the project may be summarized as follows: L To delineate the regions in which salinity control projects should be implemented to achieve the maximum selinity reductions for vari- ous levels of available funding; 2, To evaluate the best salinity control policies as functions of alternative water development scenarios. in the basin, i.e., inter- basin transfers, energy industry developments, and expanded agri- cultural diversions; 3, To determine the impact of state and federal policies on the costs of Upper Basin sslinity management plans; and 4. To assess the sensitivity of the derived optimal policies to a.ssump- tions regarding the physical nature of the salinity system, and costs of alternative control measures, and the effectiveness or salinity control programs- SCOPE OF I~ESTIGATICN The salinity problem in the Colorado River Basin is characteristic of arid and semi-arid river systems approaching conditions of full water resource development. Several years of intensive research and demonstration of alter- native salinity control technologies have yielded results which should be applicable throughout the river basins in the western United States as they reach full development, The COlorado River salinity control program, there- fore, might be expected to s'erve as a mod'el for futur-e efforts else'l;vhere. 3 ,. ii.."