WSP01110

• File Number: 8273.100.10
• Description: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control - Federal Agencies - Bureau of Reclamation
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 5/1/1995
• Title: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Project - Report on Public and Agency Review of the Program and Implementation Plan for the Basinwide Program - Discussion Draft
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Reclamation's policy is to attempt to avoid wildlife/wetland impacts and, if this is not possible, fully
mitigate the project's impacts.

In some cases, land retirement would adversely affect flows in the river system. For example,
retiring land in the Grand Valley would cause serious problems in the Colorado River. Existing
water use in the upper reaches of the Colorado River would almost dewater the river except that the
Grand Valley calls water down through the river system because of its senior rights. If Grand Valley
land were retired, it is likely that the water would be fully depleted by transbasin diversions to
Denver, aggravating the endangered fish problem in the river.

There will be opportunities to integrate land retirement options into existing and future salinity
control projects. Land retirement is especially effective as mitigation for wildlife impacts from water
conservation and irrigation improvements made by salinity control. It may also be useful to retire
lands on the ends of long, leaky irrigation systems rather than improve the delivery system.

Cost effectiveness-Land retirement would be competitive with other salinity control
alternatives except for its costly impact to wildlife and local economies. The local cost
of $182 per ton by itself exceeds the total costs of any salinity control practice ever
installed.

Costlbenefit-At costs of $230 to $343 per ton, land retirement would not have a very
favorable costlbenefit ratio. The benefit of salinity control is estimated at $340 per ton.
Cooperative programs with USDA and water conservation alternatives at $40 to $70 per ton
would be much more beneficial to the Nation.

Wildlife opportunities-Land retirement may be very effective as a way to replace
wildlife habitat losses. For example, in the Grand Valley Unit's Horsethief Canyon
Wildlife Area, irrigated cropland is being converted to irrigated wildlife habitat to
replace habitat losses associated with the project. This type of habitat replacement does
not increase salinity by creating new wetlands because the land was already under
irrigation.

"Saved water" cannot he protected from use under existing prior appropriation laws.
Use by other, water-short water users would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the
program. This may change as States enact water conservation/marketing laws.

Opportunities to implement land retirement alternatives that would be voluntary and
supported by local and State governments may be limited. Ultimately, many different
treatments should be combined in each project area to take advantage of the strengths of
each. The option to retire small farms on the end of long, leaky delivery systems may
be available.

La Verkin Springs

La Verkin Springs is located on the Virgin River in southwestern Utah. The springs flow at a rate of
11.5 ft'/s with a salinity of 9,650 mglL. The springs contribute an estimated 109,000 tons per year

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