WSP01968

• File Number: 8271.300
• Description: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program - General Information and Publications-Reports
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 1/24/1974
• Author: L Russell Freeman
• Title: The Problem of Salinity in the Colorado River
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Let us turn our attention to this aspect of the situation, the determination
of conditions to be imposed at some specific location on the River 0 As previously
indicated, there are two possibilities: (1) the best practicable control technology
currently available; or (2) any more stringent limitation necessary to meet water
quality standards, treatment standards or other state or Federal law or regulation.
We have generally taken the first condition to mean the level of control generally
In use by those few proces ses doing the best job in the industry (or secondary
treatment for municipalities).

The second limitation is of greater concern. There are a number of factors
to consider. As in the case of degradable pollutants, one must be concerned with
violation of stream standards in the vici.nity immediately downstream from the out-
fall. Whether a given discharge wc..uld violate ambient standards at the point of
discharge depends upon:

1. The characteristics of the waste;
2. The volume of the waste;
3. The volume of receiving water;
4. The quality .of the receiving water.

Two of these four conditions (the amount of water in the river and the waste
assimilative capacity) are determined upstream from the discharge. Where the
river crosses political boundaries, control of these two conditions may fall out-
side the jurisdiction of the concerned State. Flow conditions are usually under
separate jurisdiction even within the same State.

To complicate this problem even more, conservative pollutants carryover
from one reach of the system into the next. Thus, for conservative pollutants
such as "salinity," the allowable load which may be imposed on the system in
any given reach must be determined by "allocation."

There are several steps in the allocation process. The first step is to
establish the basis for proceeding. A principal objective of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act is to "restore and maintain" water quality. Since the
language specifically mentions water quality standards, (including water quality
standards established pursuant to this Act), let us turn to the standards provisions
of the Act for guidance. Section 303 requires a public review of water quality
standards at least once every three years, with the view toward modifying them
as appropriate. Where standards are revised they must meet the following
criteria: (303-C-2)

1. Shall consist of designated uses, and water quality criteria
based on such uses.

2. Shall be such as to protect the public health or welfare, enhance
the quality of water, and serve the purposes of the Act.

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