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o f\:) -...] CJ1 Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Council is directed by statute to advise these federal officials on the progress of the federal/state cost-shared, basin-wide salinity control programs, and annually recommends to the Federal agencies what level of funding it believes are required to allow the Program to meet its objective of assuring continuing compliance with the basin-wide water quality standards. The Council met last October and developed funding recommendations for Fiscal Years 1997 and 1998 based on the progress the Programs are making in reducing the salt load in the Colorado River System. The Council believes that ~5,500.000 should be appropriated to the Bureau of Reclamation for the original Colorado Rlver Basin Salinity Control Program (authorized ~nder P.L. 93-320 and amended by P.L. 98-569) activities and that $6,000 oOQ needs to be appropriated in Fiscal Year 1997 for the adaitional program authorized in 1995 by P.L. 104-20. The Forum's testimony dated March 26, 1996 supports the appropriation of $11,500,000 for the Bureau of Reclamation's Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Programs, along with $360,000 for associated general investigations. The Forum supports. the President's request of $5,500,0~0 for the original program, but believes an additional million dollars above the President's Fiscal Year 1997 budget request of $5.000,000 for the program authorized in 1995 should be appropriated for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 1996. Speaking for the three Wyoming representatives who sit on the Advisory Council and the Forum, I wish to state our concurrence with the Forum's testimony supporting these funding levels to continue these important, basin-wide Programs. If the necessary levels of funding are not provided for the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Programs, there is an increased probability that the numeric criteria set in the water quality standards for the Colorado River may be exceeded. Delaying or deferring adequate funding for the Program at this time will create the need for a much more expensive salinity control effort in the future to assure that the Colorado River Basin states are able to meet the water quality standards for the Colorado River. "Catch-up" funding in future fiscal years will require the expenditure of greater sums of money, increase the likelihood that the numeric criteria for Colorado River water quality are exceeded, and create undue burdens and difficulties for one of the most 2 J'J9~ ~r 5, ~ 6,0 ~...L 3\9