WSP03378

• File Number: 8276.300
• Description: Lower Gunnison Basin Unit - Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Project
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 4
• Date: 7/1/1981
• Title: Lower Gunnison Basin Unit Status Report
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

PLAN FORMULATION

Planning Criteria

Plan formulation for the Lower Gunnison Basin Unit of the CRWQIP has
been conducted according to the Water Resources Council's Principles and
Standards for Water and Related Land Resource Planning (Principles and
Standards). Undar this process the problems and needs of the area to be
affected are first identified and the capability of the available resour-
ces to meet these problems and needs are evaluated. This evaluation of
needs and resources provides the basis for determining planning elements
that should be considered in the formulation of alternative plans.

Next, alternative plans for meeting the objectives of the study are
formulated and evaluated on an appraisal level to determine if they meet
the four tests listed in Principles and Standards for identifying viable
plans. These four tests include completeness, effectiveness, efficiency,
and acceptability. The four tests may be briefly identified as follows:
(1) completeness is the extent to which an alternative plan provides and
accounts for necessary investments or other actions to ensure the real-
ization of the planned effects; (2) effectiveness is the extent to which
an alternative alleviates the specified problem and achieves the desired
results; (3) efficiency is the extent to which an alternative is cost
effective; and (4) acceptability is the workability and viability of the
alternative in respect to acceptance by the public and adherence to
existing laws and regulations.

Alternative plans that pass all four tests become candidate plans and
are subject to much more detailed examination. The next step in the plan
formulation process entails subjecting each candidate plan to an analysis
under each of the four accounts identified in Principles and Standards.
These four accounts include (1) National Economic Development (NED), (2)
Environmental Quality (EQ), (3) Regional Economic Development (RED), and
(4) Other Social Effects (OSE). It is from these candidate plans and the
four account analysis that the most likely alternative was identified. Of
primary importance in the CRWQIP salinity investigations is the cost-
effectiveness criteria, which is part of the NED account analysis, or the
estimated cost per milligram per liter of reducing the salinity contribution
to the Colorado River from the unit area.

Initially, a wide range of general methods for salinity control were
considered in plan formulation including lining, pipe installation, canal
consolidation, sprinkler irrigation, soil sealants, desalinization, on-farm
improvement, irrigation management, and limitation on diversions. More than
30 general alternatives were developed which incorporated variations of
these general measures. Technical and economic criteria were then applied
to the alternatives and they were screened accordingly. After the prelim-
inary screening, a list of 12 representative alternative plans was devel-
oped. These alternatives are described on the following page.

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