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<br />w <br />..... <br />~ <br />N <br /> <br />Salt Routing Studies <br />Extensive salt routing studies were made for the 1981 review using a <br />computer model developed by the Bureau of Reclamation..!.! The salt routing <br />studies were conducted to provide estimates of future flow-weighted average <br />annual salinity concentrations for each year of the 1980 through 1995 study <br />period at selected points in the Lower Basin under differing assumptions as <br />to both the available water supply and future water uses. The studies were <br />designed to provide estimates of salinity concentrations both with and <br />without the implementation of salinity control projects. <br />One ,of the parameters needed to evaluate possible future salinity levels <br />is an estimate of the expected water supply. Three water supply conditions <br />were used: virgin flows of 13, 14, and 15 million acre-feet per year at <br />Lee Ferry, Arizona.~/ It is expected that this range of flows would most <br />likely encompass the actual future flow that will occur in the study time <br /> <br />frame. The estimated 1896-1979 average annual virgin flow at Lee Ferry is <br />14.7 million acre-feet. The estimated 1922-1979 average annual virgin flow <br />at Lee Ferry is 13.9 million acre-feet. <br /> <br />To regulate the erratic flows of the Colorado River, a large volume <br />reservoir storage system has been constructed. During 1980, Lake Powell <br />reached maximum capacity and by the end of 1980, reservoir storage in the <br />entire system exceeded 90 percent of available capacity. This reservoir <br />system dampens the variations in both the annual flow and salinity concentra- <br />tions in the lower main stem. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />1/ Detailed information on the model is presented in: "Application of a <br />River Network Model to Water Quality Investigations for the Colorado River," <br />Richard Ribbens and Robert F. Wilson, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department . <br />of the Interior, Denver, Colorado (1973). <br />2/ The Colorado River Compact defines Lee Ferry as a point on the mainstream <br />of the Colorado River 1 mile below the mouth of the Paria River. <br /> <br />12 <br />