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<br />i <br /> <br /> <br />SUMMARY <br /> <br />/ <br /> <br />This USDA sat inity control study was carried out under <br />Publ ic Law 93-320, the Colorado River Basin Sal inity Control Act <br />(88 Stat. 266), dated June 24, 1974 as amended by Publ ic Law 98- <br />569. Section 201(c) of the Act directs the Secretary of the <br />Interior, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection <br />Agency, and the Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate and <br />coordinate their activities effectively to carry out objectives <br />of Title II of the Act as the basin states continue developing <br />their compact apportioned water. The McElmo Creek Unit, known <br />locally as the Montezuma Valley, is one of five diffuse source <br />control units designated in the Act for expeditious completion of <br />a planning report as a means to implement the sal inity control <br />pol icy adopted for the Colorado River. <br /> <br />In May 1977, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soi I <br />Conservation Service and United States Department of the <br />Interior, Bureau of Reclamation issued a joint program <br />Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Colorado River Water <br />Qual ity Improvement program. The program EIS indicated that the <br />McElmo Creek Unit would be planned. The Soi I Conservation <br />Service publ ished a planning report for the McElmo Creek Unit in <br />January 1983. This EIS updates the 1983 planning report and <br />provides specific information about the McElmo Creek Unit. <br /> <br />The USDA has two primary purposes in the McElmo Creek study: <br />(1) to determine the contribution of salt loading from the <br />irrigated farm land; and (2) to determine the opportunity for <br />reducing salt loading through improvements in irrigation systems <br />and practices. <br /> <br />The scope of the study was I imited to inventorying and <br />analyzing current irrigation systems and practices on a sample of <br />the irrigated land and off-farm group ditches. Results of these <br />analyses were expanded to be representative of the approximately <br />29,100 acres of irrigated land and about 235 mi les of off-farm <br />group ditches in the Montezuma Valley. Canals in the Montezuma <br />Val ley Irrigation (MVI) Company's distribution system were <br />evaluated by the Bureau of Reclamation and were not studied by <br />USDA. Results of investigations were discussed at joint meetings <br />throughout the study where areas of common concern were <br />identified and issues were resolved. <br /> <br />Coordination of study activities leading to analysis of the <br />salt loading problem in the McElmo Creek Unit was accompl ished <br />through a Multi-Objective Planning Team under leadership of the <br />Bureau of Reclamation. Participants in this team effort included <br />personnel from the Bureau of Reclamation, Soi I Conservation <br />Service, U.S. Fish and Wi Idl ife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, <br />Colorado Division of Wi Idl ife, Colorado Water Conservation Board, <br />Colorado Department of Health and the Dolores Soi I Conservation <br />District. <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />C~Z158 <br />