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~ c..n ~ W 8-259297 Results in Brief From the program's inception through September 30, 1994, BOR, BLM, and USDA had spent a total of about $362 million on title II salinity control projects, and these agencies have plans to spend an additional $430 million.! BOR had spent about $266 million on six salinity control projects, primarily to line irrigation canals to eliminate water seepage. Three of these projects were completed, and three were under construction. BOR has four additional projects in various stages of planning. BOR estimates it will need another $201 million for the three unfInished and the four currently planned projects. BLM had spent about $7 million on its salinity control program, which encompasses designated salinity control projects as well as other land management activities intended to controlsalinity and provide other benefIts, according to program managers. BLM'S projects generally concentrate on reducing the erosion of soil that has a high salt content. For fIscal year 1995, BLM program managers expect to spend about $800,000 on salinity control. USDA had spent about $89 million on about 1,300 contracts for salinity control projects on farms in five project areas. Farmers voluntarily participate in these projects to reduce water seepage through the use of more effIcient irrigation methods. USDA program managers forecast that they will spend about $228 million more to complete salinity control activities in the five current project areas. Several factors are considered in selecting a salinity control method from the available alternatives. Key among these factors are the method's effectiveness and cost. For example, to prevent seepage from an earthen irrigation canal, agency officials might consider lining the canal with plastic or cement, or replacing it with a pipe. If all three were equally effective, agency officials explained, they would select the cheapest method. Feasibility and the effect on the environment are other factors considered when salinity control methods are selected. Since 1974, according to Interior's salinity control measurements, the program has been successful in meeting its goal of maintaining salinity levels at or below the limits approved by the EPA under the Clean Water Act. Without additional, new salinity control projects, according to BOR data, salinity levels would exceed the established limits by about the year 2000 and would steadily increase thereafter. With completion of all planned projects, BOR expects salinity levels to remain within the established limits beyond the year 2010. lExpenditures are actual outlays; we did not acljust them to reflect inflation because, in some cases, year-to-year data were not readily available. Page 2 GAO/RCED-915-58 Salinity Control Projects in the Colorado River Basin