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<br />,.;::. <br />o <br />--J <br />(j( <br /> <br />SUMMARY <br /> <br />Section 303 of the Clean Water Act requires that water quality standards be reviewed from <br />time to time, but at least once during each three-year period. Accordingly, the seven-state <br />Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum (Forum) has reviewed the existing state-adopted and <br />Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved water quality standards for salinity consisting <br />of numeric criteria and a plan of implementation for salinity control for the Colorado River <br />System. Changes in hydrologic conditions and water use within the Colorado River Basin have <br />been evaluated, and the 1996 Review presents the recommended revisions to the plan of <br />implementation which are to be submitted to each of the Basin states for consideration at a public <br />hearing prior to adoption. <br /> <br />The Forum recommends no change in the numeric salinity criteria at the three lower main <br />stem stations. The numeric criteria at these stations will remain: <br /> <br />Station <br /> <br />Solinity in mg/Ll <br /> <br />Below Hoover Dam <br />Below Parker Dam <br />Imperial Dam <br /> <br />723 <br />747 <br />879 <br /> <br />The plan of implementation as set forth in this Review is designed to meet the objective <br />of maintaining the salinity conCentrations at or below the numeric criteria while the Basin states <br />continue to develop their compact-apportioned waters. The plan is based on maintaining the <br />numeric criteria under a long-term mean water supply of 15 million acre-feet annually. The <br />Forum recommends that the plan of implementation described in this report be carried out. The <br />plan of implementation includes: <br /> <br />1. Completion of Reclamation, BLM and USDA salinity control measures to the <br />extent that each unit remains viable and appropriately cost-effective. <br /> <br />2. Implementation of the Forum's recommended and adopted policies for effluent <br />limitations, principally under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System <br />(NPDES) permit program established by Section 402 of the Clean Water Act as <br />amended. The implemented policies (included in Appendix B of this Review) are <br />the following: <br /> <br />"Policy for Implementation of Colorado River Salinity Standards Through <br />the NPDES Permit Program;" <br /> <br />lF1ow.weighted average annual salinity. <br /> <br />v <br />