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....'~.;..:~;:..n. Wf.-~ .....-.~ ~ Ul o N ,. ~ \ . j ~ :~ ~ .i il 'I ) ". .; 7.\ ".'1 " :.~ ..; Devil Rivers, and the tributaries of MUddy Creek, Hanksville Salt Wash, and Emery South Salt Wash. The Dirty Devil River drainage contributes approximately 150,000 tons of salt each year to the Colorado River. The Muddy Creek tributary contributes an average of 86,000 tons of salt annually. No significant sources of salt or potential alternatives were identified on the Fremont River or its tributaries. Approximately 28 percent of the Muddy Creek salt load (24,200 tons per year) comes from springs in Hanksville Salt Wash and Emery South Salt Wash. The geologic formations in the area consist primarily of sedimentary deposits, about 60 percent of whiCh are mudstones, claystones, and shales. The Carmel Formation of Jurassic age and the Mancos Shale Formations of Cretaceous age are major contributors of diesolved solids. Irrigation of alluvial soils derived from shales increases the contribution of dissolved solids to the streams. Reclamation's plan was designed to reduce the salinity of the Dirty Devil and Colorado Rivers by collecting saline spring water in Hanksville Salt Wash and Emery South Salt Wash and disposing of it by deep well injection. Collection would be accomplished by pumping surface and alluvial water from' shallow wells. This water would be filtered and chemically stabilized after which it would be injected into a deeply buried geologic formation, the Coconino Sandstone, where it would be stored indefinitely and isolated from any freshwater aquifer now in use. This means of disposal would reduce the salt contribution to the Colorado River by 20,900 tons annually. Reclamation completed a planning report in May 1987. The unit has not yet been authorized for construction due to its marginal cost effectiveness. Glenwood-Dotsero Springs Unit Glenwood-Dotsero Springs is located along the Colorado River in Eagle, Garfield, and Mesa Counties in west-central Colorado. The springs are located near the town of Glenwood Springs and the rural community of Dotsero. The combined annual discharge of the springs is 25,000 acre-feet of water which contain about 440,000 tons of salt. About half of the salt contribution comes from 20 surface springs; the remainder enters as seeps and underwater springs within the river channel. Reclamation started detailed planning investigations in 1980. Technical work included the msasurement and chemical analysis of springs and ground water in the two areas and a detailed technical study of the salt-loading mechanism. Plans were then formulated with the aid of public input. More than 33 alternatives were generated. The most cost-effective plan at the time consisted of collecting both surface and subsurface salt water at Dotsero and transporting the salt water in a gravity flow pressure line to Glenwood springs where additional surface and subsurface salt water would be collected and added to the Dotsero salt water. The water would then be piped to evaporation ponds at the Colorado-Utah border. At $126 per ton, this plan could not compete with alternatives available in other units. plans were deferred until a more cost-effective alternative, possibly an industrial use, could be found. A planning report concluding the evaporation pond alternative was completed in February 1986. As an alternative to a federally developed project, Reclamation solicited proposals from industry for privately developed desalination facilities. On october 23, 1989, a cooperative agreement was signed by Reclamation and a desalting company that could lead to the development of a privately financed, owned, and operated facility. 26