WSP02457

• File Number: 8276.400
• Description: McElmo Creek Unit - Colorado River Salinity Control Program
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 7
• Date: 5/1/1981
• Title: Draft Status Report - McElmo Creek Unit
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

.

.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Previous and Related Investi~ations

The McElmo Creek Unit was included as part of a water quality study

of the entire Colorado River System by the Federal Water Pollution

Control Administration (FWPCA) between 1963 and 1970. Joint investi-

gations of the salinity problem and possible control measures were

conducted in 1968-1969 by the FWPCA and Water and Power (formerly Bureau

of Reclamation). The Environmental Protection Agency published the

results of these studies in 1971 under the title, Mineral Duality

Problems in the Colorado River Basin.

The Dolores Project, scheduled for completion 1n 1989, is under

construction and, in part, will serve supplemental serV1ce land in the

McElmo Creek Basin. The project was desi~ned to minimize salinity

problems associated with the development.

Department of Agriculture

.,

The Soil Conservation Service (SCS), an agency of the Department

of Agriculture (USDA), works in cooperation with Water and Power to

coordinate the salinity control programs. Each agency plans, implements,

and funds its own program. In the McElmo Creek area, the SCS is devel-

oping alternative plans for on-farm salinity control, while Water and

Power is developing off-farm alternatives. A public involvement effort

is underway to identify the alternatives most compatible with local

interests. A draft report is scheduled for completion in the fall

of 1981 pertaining to on-farm irrigation water mana~ement methods and

facilities, as well as on-farm ditch linin~.

The Argicultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASeS),

also an agency of the Department of Agricultural, has in the past

3

001477