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. . . ...... o Ul ,.;:... HISTORY OF WATER RESOURCE lJEVELOPHENT (continued) Enactment of Public Law 92-500 introduced a new factor into the salinity problem. The legislation has been interpreted by EPA to require that numerical standards for salinity on the Colorado River be set. Consequently, in November 1973 the EPA sub",itted to several of the Colorado River Basin States proposed requirements and procedures for salinity control of the Colorado River system and proposed the establish- ment of an interstate organization to develop a salinity control plan. The Basin States, in response to EPA's submittal of the proposed requirements, and to discuss several other questions that had been gener- ated relative to certain sections of Public Law 92-500, met on November 8 and 9, 1973, and among other things, formed the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum. A statement of position for use in discussing the proposed requirements and procedures for salinity control was adopted on November 9, 1973, and states in part: liThe States have established a IT,echanism for interstate coopera- tion (Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum) and for preparation of semianllual reports on tIle development of numeric criteria and the adoption of such criteria by October 18, 1975." The Forum members at the November 8-9, 1973, meeting also agreed to the request of EPA that: " . The final statement on proposed water quality standards and plan of implementation for salinity control should be consistent for all seven States of the Colorado River Basin; and opportunity should be provided for further direct discussion between representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Forum before the pro~osed regulations are published in the Federal Register. " Following the formulation of Forum, meetings were held with March, and April 1974 to discuss sal ini ty. the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control representatives of the EPA in January, the proposed regulation on Colorado River The EPA published a notice of proposed al.lendments to (40 CFR Part 120) COLORADO RIVER WATER SYSTEM, Salinity Control Policy and Standard Pro- cedures in FR DOC 74-13683 dated June 12, 1974. After hearings in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Denver, Colorado, in August 197<+, the final regulation was published on December 1&, 1974, in the Federal Register. The regula- tion states that 40 CFR Part 120 is amended by adding Section 120.5 Colorado River System Implementation Plan, which reads as follows: "(a) 'Colorado River System' means that portion of the Colorado River and its tributaries within the United States of &nerica." "(b) It shall be the policy that the flow weighted average annua 1 System 1972. salinity in the Im"er main stern of the Colorado kiver be maintained at or below the average value found during To carry out this policy, water quality standards for 18 "