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..... w 00 o begin in 1993 after review of the plan, public. involvement and support, and environmental assessments are completed. The goal is to prevent 2,000 tons of salt per year from leaving _ the watershed. San Juan River Unit, New Mexico The study area includes the entire 23,OOO-square-mile San Juan River water- shed from the river's headwaters in south- central Colorado to its mouth at Lake Powell. The drainage contributes approximately 1 million tons of salt annually to the Colorado River system. The Hammond Project (Navajo Indian Irrigation Project) and the Hogback Irrigation Project (also a Navajo Indian project) are the principal irrigation-induced sources of salt loading in the basin. ReclamatIon Reclamation proposes to reduce seepage losses to the main canal system by lining the canal with either concrete or membrane linings. These improveJ11ents would eliminate seepage into the saline formations beneath the canals, thus reducing salinity. Reclamation is preparing an environmental assessment for the Hammond Area; a draft is scheduled for completion in April 1992. The unit, one of the most cost- effective units in the program, would reduce salt-loading by an estimated 27,700 tons per year. Reclamation has received reports of and observed saline inflows to the San Juan River in the "Hogback" area. Hundreds of oil and gas exploration wells have been drilled in this area, raising concerns over mobilization of saline aquifers. Reclamation is investigating the apparent salt gains along the San Juan River. USDA USDA is continuing investigations in the San Juan River basin to determine the feasibility of an onfarm program. Preliminary investigations of the irrigated areas upstream from the Hogback near Farmington, New Mexico, will be completed in 1992. Also, investigations will begin in 1992 on the irrigated areas downstream from the Hogback along the San Juan River. BlM BLM is inventorying leaking oil and gas wells in the San Juan River basin. . Uinta Basin Unit, Utah This unit is located in northeastern Utah. Seepage from conveyance systems and deep percolation, resulting from irrigation, dissolve salts from the soils and shales and convey the salts through the ground-water system to natural drainages and ultimately to the Colorado River, The Uinta Basin contributes an estimated 450,000 tons of salt to the Colorado River annually. ReclamatIon Reclamation has proposed this unit for construction, and the proposal has been sent to the Department of the Interior for review. Under the preferred plan, canals and laterals would be lined to reduce seepage losses and the associated salt pickup. The Department has asked the Office of Management and Budget to comment on the budgetary impacts of the unit. . The Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of EPA have also been asked to comment on the plan. Some investigations continue into managing land to control salinity. USDA Salinity control contracts continue to be prepared at a record pace in the Uinta Basin. At the end of fiscal year 1991, 323 salinity control contracts were in effect and many applications were on file. Salinity reduction practices continue to be installed at an increasing rate. At the end of fiscal year 1991, 855 sprinkler irrigation systems had been installed on 62,700 acres. In addition, more than 547 miles of underground pipelines and gated pipe have been installed. To date, the practices have reduced salt loading by 50,000 tons per year. 15