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<br />w <br />w <br />(Jl <br />--.; <br /> <br />APPENDIX C <br /> <br />LEGISLATIVE HISTORY <br /> <br />Three Acts require the Department of the Interior to develop and implement a salinity control <br />program in the Colorado River basin: <br /> <br />Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendment of 1972 <br />Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 <br />Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act Amendment of 1984 <br /> <br />[pL. 92-500] <br />[p.L. 93-320] <br />[p.L. 98-569] <br /> <br />The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum was established in 1972 as a result of <br />P.L. 92-500. The Forum, representing the seven basin States, has since developed numeric <br />criteria for salinity concentrations in the Colorado River (723 mgll below Hoover Dam, 747 rngll <br />below Parker Dam, and 879 mgll at Imperial Dam). <br /> <br />The Bureau of Land Management intensified its salinity control activities in 1973 when the <br />Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Water Resources directed the BLM and the <br />Bureau of Reclamation to establish a working relationship that integrates reclamation and public <br />land programs to reduce salinity in the Colorado River basin. <br /> <br />Title II ofP.L. 93-320 authorized construction of four salinity control units in the basin and <br />required planning reports be completed on 12 other units. The Act required Interior to undertake <br />research on additional methods for salinity control, utilizing the capabilities and resources of other <br />Federal departments and agencies, interstate institutions, States, and private organizations. <br />Title I of P.L. 93-320 authorized the construction, operation, and maintenance of a desalting <br />complex to allow the United States to meet its water quality obligations to Mexico. These <br />obligations are to deliver water with an average annual salinity of no more than 115 parts/million <br />::t 30 parts/million greater than the water aniving at Imperial Dam. <br /> <br />Increased demands for water use, partially resulting from potential energy development, created <br />new water quality pressures on the Colorado River. Because P.L. 93-320 only authorized con- <br />struction of four salinity control units, salinity management efforts at the time were considered <br />insufficient to control projected salt yields. <br /> <br />In 1982, the seven basin States became concerned that the salinity control standards established by <br />the Forum could be exceeded. As a result, the States (via the Forum) supported the 1984 amend- <br />ment to the Act. This report has been prepared in direct response to Section 203(b) of the 1984 <br />amendment to the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act. <br /> <br />Section 203(b)(3) directed the Secretary of the Interior: <br /> <br />"to develop a comprehensive program for minimizing salt contributions to the. Colorado <br />River from lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and subrrnt a report <br />which describes the program and recommended implementation actions to the Congress <br />and to the members of the advisory council established by Section 204(a) of this title by <br />July I, 1987." <br /> <br />43 <br />