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Water Qualitg Control Vi ATER QUALITY OPERATIONS DURING WATER YEAR 1974 Since water quality aspects of Colorado River operations are extensively described in the biennial series of reports entitled "Quality of Water, Colorado River Basin," only minimal discussion of this aspect of operation is presented in this report. Report No. 7 of this series will be issued in January 1975. Specific water quality operations are performed pursuant to Minute No. 242 with Mexico such that during water year 1974, the United States bypassed 15 I ,486 acre-feet of drainage water to the Colorado River below Morelos Dam and replaced it with a like amount of other water. Even though this was the only specific operation carried out for quality purposes, other incidental benefits accrue to water quality from normal procedures. Water is stored in reservoirs during the nonirrigation seaSon and during the snowmelt runoff period when the water is surplus to immediate requirements. As the stream flows diminish in late summer, storage water is released as needed to supplement the natural flows in meeting demands. Although water quality control is not generally recognized as a beneficial use of surface water, this type of release pattern greatly enhances the quality of water in the Basin.. FUTURE WATER QUALITY CONTROL In recognizing the need to manage the water quality of the Colorado River, it has been recommended that salinity increases in the river will be minimized through a water quality improvement program generally described in the Department of the Interior's report "Colorado River Quality Improvement Program," dated February 1972. This program calls for a basin-wide approach to salinity control wlnle the Upper Basin continues to develop its Compact-apportioned waters. To enhance and improve the quality of the river's water, Congress authorized the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act. P.L. 93-320, June 24, 1974. 22 Sailboats, Lake Havasu, Arizolla-CAlijorrtia