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<br />en <br /> <br />C1 <br />,..... <br /> <br />Sect i on 1. <br /> <br />SUNMARY <br /> <br />c...:' <br />C: The AQUATRAIN Project is a cooperative effort between government <br />and private industry that would provide least-cost saline . <br />water contro 1 a~,d economic a lly compet it ive coal transportat ion. <br /> <br />The AQUATRAIN Project as currently conceptualized proposes <br />an underground, multiple pipeline syst~ carrying saline water, <br />coal, and potentially other commodities, possibly from as <br />far north as Wyoming to markets in the southwest U.S. or to <br />a point on the Pacific Coast for export. <br /> <br />The AQUATRAIN pipeline system would carry water too salty <br />for general use. This saline water, from natural and manmade <br />sources along the pipeline corridor, contains large quantities <br />of dissolved minerals (salts) and now flows into the Colorado <br />River or its tributaries. Once in the river, these salts <br />cause severe problems for downstream agricultural, municipal, <br />and industrial water users. <br /> <br />With AQUATRAIN, the salt-laden water would be transported <br />to the nearest points of beneficial use or disposed of in <br />a cost-effective manner, thus limiting additional damage caused <br />by saline water--currently estimated at $110 million per year. . <br />Without further salinity control, damages attributable to saline <br />water are projected at nearly $270 million (constant 1982 <br />dollars) annually by the year 2010. Neither of these estimates <br />includes saline water damages to the environment and public <br />health, nor damage in Mexico. <br /> <br />AQUATRAIN would help protect the quality of Colorado River <br />water delivered to Mexico, as stipulated in Minute No. 242 <br />to the U.S.-Mexico Water Treaty of 1944. AQUATRAIN will also <br />help maintain water quality standards established by the Colorado <br />River Basin States and the Environmental Protection Agency. <br /> <br />Western U.S. coal--which has a low sulfur content and high <br />British Thermal Unit (BTU)* rating--is an available fuel for <br />electric utility powerplants. However, escalating rail freight <br />rates are slowing the growth and development of western U.S. <br />coal. These freight rates often result in a lOO-percent increase <br />between coal costs at the mine mouth and coal delivered to <br />the customer. It appears that AQUATRAIN would be able to <br />transport coal at lower rates from the start, and the effects <br />of inflation would escalate the transportation costs at a <br />rate less than that of rail delivery systems. <br /> <br />*A British Thermal Unit is a standard measure of a fuel's <br />heat value. One BTU is the heat required to raise one pound <br />of water one degree Fahrenheit. <br />