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<br />,~" <br /> <br />~ <br />,-\ <br />.....c <br /> <br />c..' <br /> <br />AUTHORITY <br /> <br />On November 16, 1973, the Colorado Water Conservation Board requested <br />assIstance from the Soil Conservation Service, under authority of <br />Section 6 of Public Law 566, to make feasibility studies of possible <br />improvements for on-farm irrigation systems and improvements in the <br />upland watershed condition for the purpose of controlling saline return <br />flows to the Colorado River from Grand Valley. <br /> <br />Publ ic Law 93-320 (88 Stat. 266) dated June 24, 1974, entitled "Colorado <br />River Basin Sal inity Control Act" authorized the U. S. Department of <br />Agriculture in cooperation with the Department of the Interior and the <br />Environmental Protection Agency to develop a sal inity control plan for <br />the Grand Valley Unit. Title II, Section 202(2) of the Act specifically <br />directs; (a) the Secretary of the Interior to ". , . enter into agree- <br />ments with the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a unified control <br />plan for the Grand Valley Unit," and (b) the Secretary of Agriculture <br />". . . to cooperate in the planning and construction of on-farm system <br />measures under programs available to that department. II Section 203(b)(l) <br />directs the Secretary of Interior ", . . in the investigation, planning, <br />construction, and implementation of any sal inity control unit involving <br />control of sal inity from irrigation sources, to cooperate with the <br />Secretary of Agriculture in carrying out research and demonstration <br />projects and in implementIng on-the-farm improvements and farm manage- <br />ment practices and programs which wil I further the objective of this <br />title; . . ." To establ ish a cooperative program for effective execution <br />of the sal inity control measures called for in the act, a Memorandum of <br />Understanding effective November 27, 1974, was entered into by the <br />Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture. A Memo- <br />randum of Agreement, effective March 27, 1975, was entered into between <br />the Bureau of Reclamation and the Soil Conservation Service to implement <br />the specific cooperative activities called for under Title I I of the <br />Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act. <br /> <br />COORDINATION <br /> <br />Coordination of USDA activities with state and other federal agencies <br />was accomplished through the Grand Valley Salinity Coordinating <br />Committee. This committee has members from the following agencies and <br />organizations: Bureau of Reclamation, U. S. Geological Survey (Water <br />Resources Division), Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land <br />Management, Colorado State University, Soil Conservation Service <br />. ' <br />Agrtcultural Research Service, Colorado Water Conservation Board, Grand <br />Valley Irrigation Company, Grand Junction Drainage District, Colorado <br />River Water Conservation District, Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce, <br />Grand Valley Project, Mesa County Soil Conservation )istrict, and Grand <br />Valley Irrigation Association. <br /> <br />8 <br />