WSP02396

• File Number: 8210.140.20
• Description: Colorado River Basin Organizations and Entities - Colorado River Basin States Forum - California
• State: CA
• Basin: Western Slope
• Date: 1/1/1978
• Author: Myron B Holburt
• Title: Annual Report for the Calendar Year 1977
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Annual Report

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EPA, completed the development and
analysis of a series of state and local
management options which it claimed
are available to states and local
agencies under existing state laws and
policies and which may reduce
salinity of the Colorado River. The
Forum and states found that the DRI
study offered little in the way of
actions that could be implemented
under current state laws and policies
to reduce salinity of the river, The
Chief Engineer of the Colorado River
Board, as Chairman of the Forum
Work Group, served as a member of
the DRI Advisory Board along with
representatives of the other Basin
states,

Clean Water Act of 1977

The Clean Water Act of 1977
contained several amendments to
Public Law 92-500 which affect
salinity control activities in the
Colorado River Basin. Section 101
states Congressional policy as being
that the Clean Water Act will not
impair the authority of each state to
allocate quantities of water within its
jurisdiction or affect the quantities of
water already established by any
state, without, however, changing the
impacts of existing federal law. This
section, accordingly, would not affect
the federal salinity control projects
authorized under P.L. 93-320.
Section 208 of P.L. 92-500 is
amended to require that 208 plans
consider return flows from irrigated
agriculture. The Clean Water Act also
amended Section 504 of P,L. 92-500
to exclude return flows from irrigated
agriculture from the definition of
"point source", Section 402 was
amended to prohibit the Administrator
of EPA from requiring a permit under
Section 402 for discharges composed
entirely of return flows from irrigated
agriculture. Further, the Administrator
cannot require, either directly or
indirectly, that the State regulate
return flows.
Under the revised Section 208, the
Department of Agriculture, in
cooperation with EPA, may provide
technical and financial assistance to

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land owners and operators to
implement areawide 208 management
plans that include installation of
measures to improve water quality.

Mexican Salinity Measures

The Bureau of Reclamation
continued its work on engineering
plans and specifications for the
desalting plant and other facilities and
measures necessary to implement the
1973 agreement with Mexico on
Colorado River salinity. The desalting
plant and other measures were
authorized by Title I of P. L. 93-320
and described in the Board's 1974
Annual Report.
During the year, hydrologic studies
for desalting plant sizing were refined,
and further tests were made of
desalting plant pretreatment and
equipment performance characteristics
with actual plant feed water, Specific
fish and wildlife mitigation measures
were developed, and project costs
were updated.
Amendatory legislation for
increased funding above the
authorized ceiling was drafted. A total
of $155,500,000 was authorized in
June, 1974, for the construction of the
works needed which is equivalent to
a current indexed cost of
$222,897,000. However, proposed
changes to the project, amounting to
$110,752,000, have increased the total
cost to $333,&49,000, The major
increases are in the desalting complex,
the Mexican section of the bypass
drain, the Coachella Canal
replacement, the Wellton-Mohawk
acreage reduction and on-farm
improvements, and fish and wildlife
facilities.
Contracts for membrane desalting
equipment were offered to
Hydranautics, and Fluid Systems, two
California companies, but a lawsuit
filed by an unsuccessful bidder
prevented the award of a contract for
equipment for the desalting facility.
This lawsuit may delay work and
delay completion of the facility about
one year beyond the scheduled 1981
date.
A repayment contract for the
Coachella Canal replacement was
presented to the Coacheiia Vaiiey
County Water District, and the District

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passed a resolution to sign the
contract.

Yuma Desalting Plant Reject
Stream Replacement Study

In Public Law 93-320, replacement
of the reject stream from the Yuma
desalting plant, authorized under Title
I of the Act, is declared to be a
national obligation. The Secretary of
the Interior is directed to identify
feasible measures to provide adequate
replacement water by June 1980, from
potential sources within the States of
Arizona, California, Colorado, and
New Mexico, and those portions of
Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming that are
within the natural drainage of the
Colorado River Basin,
The Bureau of Reclamation briefed
the Committee of Fourteen in
February on the status of these
studies, and, in April, conducted a
series of regional meetings to describe
the alternatives and to obtain
feedback from state and local
governmental and non-governmental
entities. The Chief Engineer and the
Principal Engineer attended the Los
Angeles meeting and expressed
opposition to those alternatives which
involved the use, on a permanent
basis, of the water resources of
California, The Bureau was urged to
concentrate on those alternatives
which would either increase the
efficiency of the desalting plant or
would add a new source of water
supply, rather than just take an
existing supply which belongs to the
states.
Later in the year, the Bureau
established a Reject Stream
Replacement Study Team to assist it
in the study. Federal and state water
agencies and fish and wildlife
organizations were invited to become
members of the Team. The Board's
Supervising Engineer joined the Team
and attended two meetings in 1977.
At these meetings, a report on the
preliminary evaluation of alternative
sources of water supply was discussed
and separate work groups were
established to consider the
engineering, environmental, economic,
and social aspects of the study.
Evaiuation of the amount of water
needed to replace the reject stream
supply was given particular attention.