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<br />.- <br />w <br />Ul <br />N <br /> <br />CHAPTER I <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />1.1 Statement of the Problem <br /> <br />Salinity is the quantity of total dissolved solids in water. <br /> <br />The average annual salinity of the Colorado River at Imperial Dam, <br /> <br />California, as well as in all of the major tributaries of the Upper <br /> <br />and Lower Colorado River Basin lowlands, had nearly doubled during <br /> <br />the century by 1965 (Iorns, et aI., 1965). The most soluble and. <br /> <br />therefore, most abundant solids in the Colorado River are sulfates <br /> <br />and carbonates (Laronne, 1977). <br /> <br />The dissolved solids contribute to a concentration of about <br /> <br />1000 mg/1 at Imperial Dam. Salinity of this magnitude is double the <br /> <br />limit of 500 mg/1 set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency <br /> <br />for municipal use. Furthermore, it reduces the life and increases <br /> <br />the maintenance cost of boilers, plumbing, and appliances used by <br /> <br />industry and municipalities. Salinity. regardless of the types of <br /> <br />salts involved, affects irrigated agriculture by decreasing produc- <br /> <br />tivity and/or increasing production costs (Bureau of Land Manage- <br /> <br />ment, 1978). The salinity problem is an international one, as <br /> <br />Colorado River water is used by Mexico. <br /> <br />More than half of the salt load in the Colorado River is thought <br /> <br />to come from point and diffuse sources of natural origin in the upper <br /> <br />basin (Bureau of Land Management, 1978). Point sources include <br /> <br />saline seeps' and springs, whereas diffuse sources originate from the <br />