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<br />Appendix I <br /> <br />The Federal Salinity Control Program <br /> <br />e..v <br />C,;l <br />OJ <br />,... <br /> <br />At the federal level, the salinity control program includes various agencies <br />within the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture (USDA) and the <br />Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Interior agencies involved in <br />salinity control include the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), the Bureau of <br />Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.s. <br />Geological Survey. Coordination among the federal agencies is <br />accomplished through the Interagency Salinity Control Coordinating <br />Committee. <br /> <br />As the lead agency for the Department of the Interior's Salinity Control <br />Program, BOR is responsible for coordinating efforts within Interior, <br />investigating problems with salinity, analyzing the program's needs and <br />accomplishments, and implementing specific congressionally approved <br />salinity control projects. BOR primarily attempts to reduce the salt <br />contributed to the Colorado River by reconstructing primary irrigation. <br />systems. Such reconstruction generally involves lining irrigation canals <br />and laterals with concrete or plastic to eliminate the seepage and deep <br />percolation of irrigation water into the groundwater. Other projects by BOR <br />reduce the salt contributed to the river by blocking or controlling specific <br />"point" sources. For example, in one project brine is injected into a deep <br />well to prevent its entering the river. <br /> <br />Bureau of <br />Reclamation <br /> <br />By the end of September 1994, BOR had completed construction on three <br />salinity control projects, at a combined cost of about $69 million. <br />Construction was under way on another three projects, and another four <br />projects were in various planning stages. <br /> <br />The Meeker Dome project, completed in 1983 at a cost of about $3 million, <br />entailed plugging three wells that had originally been drilled for oil <br />exploration but had been abandoned. The wells had been identified as <br />significant contributors of salt to the Colorado River. The Las Vegas, <br />Pittman Bypass project, completed in 1985 at a cost of about $2 million, <br />entailed constructing a 4-mile pipeline to replace an unlined ditch that <br />carried industrial wastewater. The unlined ditch had allowed seepage, <br />which in turn increased the flow of salt into the groundwater and <br />ultimately into the river. The Paradox Valley project, which was completed <br />in 1994 at a cost of about $64 million (and which requires an estimated <br />$3 million to test before it becomes fully operational), entailed injecting <br />highly saline groundwater into a well about 3 miles beneath the surface, a <br />depth that prevents the water from entering the river. The highly saline <br />groundwater resulted from natural saline springs. <br /> <br />Page 20 <br /> <br />GAOIRCED-95-58 Salinity Control Projects in the Colorado River Basin <br />