WSP04563 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

. o QO c.u CJl . . HISTORY OF WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (Continued) Early in the standards setting process, it became apparent to the States that because of legal and institutional constraints combined with lack of technical knowledge of salinity control and management, it would be very difficult to establish numerical salinity standards on the Colorado River which would be workable, equitable, and enforceable, The seven Basin States subsequently developed water quality standards which did not include salinity standards. The "Seventh Enforcement Conference in the Matter of Pollution of the Interstate Waters of the Colorado River and Its Tributaries" was held in Las Vegas (February 15-17, 1972) and Denver (April 26-27, 1972). The conferees, (official representatives of the seven Basin States) and the Environmental Protection Agency, unanimously adopted conclusions and recommendations pertaining to the salinity problems of the Colorado River. The conclusions and recommendations were approved by Mr, William D. Ruckelshaus, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in June 1972, The more significant conclusion being as follows: "1. It is recommended that: A salinity policy be adopted for the Colorado River system that would have as its objective the main- tenance of salinity concentrations at or below levels presently found in the lower main stem. In implementing the salinity policy objective for the Colorado River System, the salinity problem must be treated as a basinwide problem that needs to be solved to main- tain Lower Basin water salinity at or below present levels while the Upper Basin continues to develop its compact-apportioned waters. "II, The Salinity control program as described by the Department of the Interior in their report entitled "Colorado River Water Quality Improvement Program," dated February 1972, offers the best prospect for implementing the salinity control objective adopted herein." The conferees further suggested that the Bureau of Reclamation should have the primary responsibility for investigation, planning, and implementing the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program with the assistance of the Office of Saline Water and the Environmental Protec- tion Agency at the Federal level. 2. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 The object of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (Public Law 92-500) is to restore and maintain the chemical, physi- cal, and biological integrity of the Nations waters. It declares that the national goals are to eliminate discharge of pollutants into navi- gable waters by 1985 with an interim goal of attaining by July 1983, 17