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WSP04388
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Last modified
7/29/2009 10:32:17 PM
Creation date
10/12/2006 12:18:12 AM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
Water Supply Protection
File Number
8271.300
Description
Colorado River-Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program-General Information/Publications
State
CO
Date
12/1/1977
Author
SoilCon-DeptAgricult
Title
On-Farm Program for Salinity Control-Final Report of the Grand Valley Salinity Study-Prepared by Soil Conservation Service and Agricultural Research Service
Water Supply Pro - Doc Type
Report/Study
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<br />Irrigation in the valley began in 1882 with the construction of what is <br />now the Grand Valley Canal (Grand Valley I rrigation Company). Other <br />private systems were built during the period between 1882 and 1908. <br />Construction of the last major system, the Grand Valley Project under <br />the Reclamation Service, began in 1908 with major construction completed <br />in 1926. This project consists of two divisions, the Garfield Gravity <br />and the Orchard Mesa Divisions, on the north and south sides of the <br />river, respectively, <br /> <br />SOILS <br /> <br />The Soils of this general area are derived from the Mancos Shale for- <br />mation. The Mancos Shale is a marine formation consisting of 3,000 to <br />5,000 feet of relatively uniform silty clay shale with veinlets of <br />gypsum, calcite, and sodium sulphate. Ground water percolating over and <br />through the shale picks up high concentrations of salt which are trans- <br />ported to the Colorado River through wasteways, ditches, or by natural <br />ground water movement to the river. Because of the arid climate, these <br />salts have not been leached naturally, and high quantities remain. <br />Lense5 of white crystall ine salts are often exposed during excavation <br />operations. <br /> <br />The Soil Survey of the Grand Junction Area (issued 1955) covers 121,600 <br />acres, including the irrigated land within the boundaries of the irriga- <br />tion canal system. The soils as described in this survey are typical of <br />desert soils -- they are low in organic matter, high in weatherable <br />minerals and associated salts and are chemically similar to the geologic <br />materials from which they were derived. <br /> <br />Extensive field and laboratory checking of salinity during progress of <br />the survey found about one-third of the area was affected by accumulations <br />of salts or alkali; and that sodium sulfate is by far the most prevalent <br />so 1 ub 1 e sa 1 t. <br /> <br />Strongly saline Cretaceous formations (primarily Mancos shale) dominate <br />the parent material of the area, with approximately 78 percent of the <br />area having soils directly related to the Mancos shale. The deep Fruita, <br />Genola, Green River, Hinmon, Mesa, Naples, and Thoroughfare soils which <br />are formed in mixed material of other than Mancos shale amount to about <br />22 percent of the area. <br /> <br />Of those soils directly related to the Mancos shale the shallow Chipeta <br />and Persayo soils and the moderately deep phases of the Fruita and Mesa <br />soils resting on Mancos shale amount to 31 percent of the total area. <br />The deep Billings (29%), Mack (3%) and Ravola (15%) soils developed in <br />alluvium from the Mancos shale comprise about 47 percent of the total <br />area. <br /> <br />12 <br />
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