Laserfiche WebLink
<br />1, ".-" <br />.. oJ_' <br /> <br />valley between the saline and fresh grcnmdwaters which appears to <br />be stable. A test \'If~ll has bee;} drilled into the fractured salt <br />dome cap and pumping tests performed to evaluate tbe proposed <br />control plan. <br /> <br />The project plan calls for the installation of a field of <br />about 11 brine 1"Iells, 250 feet deep, that would lower the fresh <br />water-brine interface by pumping, thus preventing the brines from <br />rising to the ground surface and entering the river. The pumped <br />brines would be conveyed about 20 miles from the well field at an <br />elevation of l.: ,91:0 feet, through a series of pumping stations, to <br />the proposed Radium evaporation reservoir at about 7,000 feet <br />elevation. The Radium reservoir site is considered to be relatively <br />impervious, and tests indicate there would be no lew~age from either <br />the d~n or reservoir. <br /> <br />The results of this testing indicate that the salt being added <br />to the Dolores River in Paradox Valley can be effectively controlled <br />by pumping saline groundwater from the brine zones. The estimated <br />annual removal of salt by the proposed program is 180,000 tons. <br /> <br />The estimated cost of construction, based on 1973 prices, for <br />the brine wells, pumping plants. pipeline, and reservoir is $16 <br />million, and interest during construction raises the total capital <br />costs to $17,650,000. The annual operation, maintenance and <br />replacement costs based on the expected life of equipment and a <br />6 7/8 percent interest rate is $350,000. Total annual costs, <br />including amortization of the capital costs over 100 years at an <br />interest rate of 6 7/8 percent, 1"Iould be $1,600,000. <br /> <br />The removal of 180,000 tons/year of salts from the Colorado <br />River system would reduce the river's salinity at Imperial Dam by <br />20 ppm in the year 2000. <br /> <br />The Grand Va11~ area of Colorado lies at the junction of the <br />Gunnison ~iver with the Colorado River. The Grand Valley Irrigation <br />Company, started in 1882, di"e~ted '>Tater from the Colorado River to <br />irrigate 22,500 acres. Near thet-urn of t,he century, five other <br />small irrigation districts ranging in size from a few hundred to <br />a few thousand acres were for;ned to divert water from the Colorado <br />Rivp.r. The last major irrigat~on development in the valley was the <br />Bureau of Reclamation Grand Valley Project, started in 1912 to <br />irrigate about /,2,000 acres. The City of Grand Junction, with a <br />population of 20,000 locatp.d near the center of the irrigated area, <br />is the major municipal, commerical and industrial city in the Upper <br />Colorado River Basin. <br /> <br />c <br /> <br />There are about 76,000 acres of irrisated land in the valley, <br />of which about 11 percent are not cropped in anyone year. The <br />principal crops grown are hay and pasture, corn, fruits, small grain <br />and sugar beets. The average farm size is 50 acres with some as <br /> <br />- 15 - <br />