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. o 00 w 0) . . HISTORY OF WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (Continued) water quality which provides for the protection and propogation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and for recreation in and on the Nation's water. The Act authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency, after cooperation with other Federal agencies, State water pollution control agencies, interstate agencies and municipalities and industries in- volved, to prepare or develop comprehensive programs for preventing. reducing, or eliminating the pollution of the navigable waters and ground waters and improving the sanitary condition of surface and under- ground waters, Some of the more important aspects of the Act briefly explained are as follows: The Act authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency to provide grants for research or demonstration projects and construction of treatment works to Federal Agencies, States, or private organiza- tions. It also authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency to publish and revise from time to time, water quality criteria and to revise standards to include intrastate as well as interstate streams, The law also provided that by July I, 1977, the best practical water pollution control technology must have been applied followed by the best available technology economica lly achievable by July 1, 1983, Section 402 of the Act provides for the Governmental regulation of pollutant discharges through a mandatory permit program, monitoring, inspection. and periodic reporting. Section 404 requires those dischargers of fill or dredge material into a navigable stream to obtain a permit from the Corps of Engineers. Enactment of Public Law 92-500 introdllced a new factor into the salinity problem. The legislation has been interpreted by EPA to re- quire that numerical standards for salinity on the Colorado River be set. Consequently in November (1973) the EPA submitted to several of the Colorado River Basin States proposed requirements and procedures for Salinity Control of the Colorado River System and proposed the estab- lishment 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 generated 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: "The States bave established a mechanism for interstate co- operation (Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum) and for preparation and semiannual reports on the development of numeric criteria and '.lIe adoption of such criteria by October 18, 1975." 18