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<br />CHAP'!'ER III <br />SALINITY OF THE RIVER <br /> <br />I\) <br />00 <br />~ The Colorado River Basin cove~s an area in the United States of <br />~ <br />242,000 square miles, approximately one-twelfth of the conterminous <br />United States, and 2,000 square miles in Mexico. It extends 1,400 <br />miles from the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf <br />of California. Historically, the river, from both natural causes and <br />man's activities, has carried a la~ge.disso1ved mineral load resulting <br />in salinity concentrations higher than for most other major rivers, <br />The Colorado River Basin has a population of about 2.25 million <br />and th~ough export projects, its water provides either full or <br />supplemental supplies to about 12 million people in the Southern <br />California, Denver, Salt .Lake City, Cheyenne, and Albuquerque areas. <br />With the completion of the Central Arizona Project now underway, the <br />Phoenix and Tucson areas will be served from the lower main stem. <br /> <br />Within the Basin, the regional economy is based on irrigated agriculture, <br /> <br /> <br />mining, forestry, manufacturing, oil and gas production and tourism. <br /> <br /> <br />Approximately 2t million acres are irrigated within the Basin, and <br /> <br /> <br />hundreds of thousands of acres are also irrigated with water exported <br /> <br /> <br />from the Basin. About one-half million people and 425,000 irrigated <br /> <br /> <br />acres in Mexico are served with Colorado River water. <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />Sources of Salinity <br /> <br /> <br />Generally, salinity of the river increases from its headwaters <br /> <br /> <br />to its mouth. This increase is the result of two basic processes -- <br /> <br /> <br />salt loading (adding salts) and salt concentrating (reducing water <br /> <br /> <br />supply). Salt loading results from both natural conditions and <br /> <br />-11- <br /> <br />... <br />