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<br />'. '(~Y. <br /> <br />,. <br /> <br />.",'." " <br /> <br />.;. <br />~ <br />o <br /><.0 <br /> <br />SECTION 5 <br />EXISTING UPPER !ASIN SALINITY CONTROL PLANS <br /> <br />TIlE GENERAL SALINITY PROBLEM <br /> <br />Early impr..ssiens ef "Water quality in. the Upper llasin ara recorded in the <br />names givan to the. ..treams in tha area. Nam..s su<:>h as Alkali Cre..k, Pleasant <br />Cr....k, llitter Cr..ek, Mudhol.. Cr..ek, Killpecker Creek, Swaetwater Cr..ek, Poison <br />Springs,Stil:lkingSpril:lgs, and th.. pirtyDev:Ll Rivar, can b.. found.in evary <br />region of the basin.. Ae the names .would indicate the water was often found to <br />be undesirablEl'for l1l9~ .uses clue to natural procass..s. . , <br /> <br />,Ih,! <br /> <br />Con,trolling salinity inamajorr:i.~e" bas:!;n, iSl1>c1iff;l.cult tl1>sk because <br />.it geilerally.<:>onS1sts of a complax m:l.>i;tuT" of natural ..nd man,-made; point and <br />diffuse sourc..s. Some sources are amenable 'to pr..ventative mea$Ures. Saline <br />springs can be diverted and c1isposecl of off-stream, irTigl1>tien return flows <br />can be reduced or eliminated by rehabilitating th.. irrigation..ystem ancl <br />improving irrigation practices, reservoirs can be man",gecl t.o minimi~e evapora- <br />. den, and new "Water davelopments cl1>n be sited andpperatedto.miniinizewater . <br />quality impacts. Other sources of salinity such as natural runoff may extend <br />ever such large areas that the only fessible meaSUrS for control is to desalt <br />some of the aggregat.., flow at II c10llnatream point. Skogerboe et al. (1979b) <br />discuss some of the methodologies to c1eterm:l.ne and implement the most cost- <br />. effective salinity control program in an. area. . <br /> <br />At the planning level, the .sourc..s of salin:tty must be icl..ntifiecl in <br />conjunction with the d..triments associatecl with salinity contributions. If <br />the damages are more costly than the measures required to allev.iat. th. .l'rob- <br />lem, a salinity control proj..ct is n..edad. <br /> <br />,:. <br /> <br />.... <br /> <br />The total salinity contribut:ions for the var;l.ous areas an,( subbasi:~':l.n <br />the UCRB hav.. b..en tabulated in four main, reports. The ):apOrt by Iecrns et al. <br />..... '.... -(-19,6.5) "is th,,"most: .complete and 'is'gen.rally thetnost'useful. . Th.. seconcl set <br />of reports of consequence a1.'e the .biennialprogreas r..portson the Quality of <br />theCol.oracloRiver Basin by theWat:er and Power R"sourc" Service (USDI, BR, <br />1979.';')... Th..sereports .describa 'each of the salinity.control pr.ojects: .ancl' <br />tabulate the existing stream gaging station data. These reports extencl the <br />datil of Iorns et al. (1965) to the present. . The third report was compiled by <br />the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and others (EPA, 1971) ancl pr..sents <br />the results of a limitecl stucly (June, 1965 - May, 1966). The specific data <br />ancl conclusions presentecl in this report often wiclely dissgree with other <br />published results. Finally, the study by Hyatt et al. (1970), which was <br />developed from sn electrical analog computer model of the Upper Colorado River <br />Basin, schematically presents the water and salt flo"Ws of the basin. Again, <br /> <br />32 <br /> <br />,,,:, <br /> <br />..,......-' <br />