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<br />.IlJfigatipn plaQ.
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<br />. ..",. . ... ,;. ., . .:\ ..''-' .
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<br />seeks to uiiit~",
<br />
<br />:'y ~:; ,.:, \ ~ .' .."-'::, - <., - . "/.I-,. ~ _M
<br />
<br />canals' owners
<br />
<br />I.,
<br />.JIm "'11Iv_. a1ly owned Highline Canal h ex-
<br />Daily Sentinel pected to begin next year. Hpwev-
<br />Bill McDonald hopes he can orga- er, before any other improvements
<br />nize "litera1ly thousands" of Grand can be started, maintenance agree-
<br />Va1ley irrigation lateral and canal ments must be reached with the
<br />owners into a single entity respon- owners otthe public and privllte ir-
<br />sible for maintaining proposed fed-' rigation water delivery systeni!l;
<br />eral salinity control improvement&. Enter the water conserVfltion.
<br />If he can't forge one entity, a few board, which recently was awltrded
<br />would be line, said McDonald, di- a contract by the bureau to n*goti-
<br />f rector of the Colorado Water Con- ate the agreements on its beJlal[
<br />, servation Board based in Denver. McDonald said the Iirst part o~ that'
<br />The second stage of the Bureau of contract, completed three WF,ekll
<br />Reclamation's salinity control im- ago, consisted of a legal analY~$to
<br />provements will. affect about 90 determine the types of new oJ:-ex-
<br />percent of the va1ley's agricultural isting entities that could lemally
<br />lands. An estimated $190 million in handle the maintenance agee-
<br />. improvements includes lining 40 menl I ,
<br />miles of the Highline Canal with a The contract's second part .;on-
<br />concrete or synthetic membrane sists of meeting the live public eoti-
<br />and converting about 450 miles of ties that now deliver irrigation wa.
<br />privately and publicly owned later- ter - Grand Va1ley Water Users'
<br />als, mostly earthen, into pipes. Association, Grand Va1ley Irriga-
<br />, Stage one, completed in April tion Co., and the Palisade, Orchard
<br />1983 ~t a cost of $29 million, lined Mesa and Mesa County irrigation
<br />6.8 miles orthe Highline Canal with districts - to determine if any
<br />concrete and consolidated 13 would be interested in assuming.or
<br />earthen laterals into 12 pipes. sharing that role. If not, a new or-
<br />The two stages are expected to ganizallon could be' create.IeI,
<br />reduce by 167,000 tons the amount McDonald said. .. .;"~
<br />of salt the Colorado River annually A meeting with representatives
<br />picks up as it passes through the of the public providers and.
<br />valley. , McDonald is scheduled for Mondny
<br />
<br />~econd.stage workon the Ceder- Please ~heck Salinity, page SB ._
<br />,"- . ,~_.,._~;:~ ,,,:.t_...~... ~~. .____L t.-...l.. ..~',.~~ '_ _ ..,.)#' ".
<br />
<br />.1
<br />
<br />Salinity
<br />
<br />From page IB
<br />
<br />in Grand Junction.
<br />Picking the entity is complicated
<br />because there are between 750 and
<br />800 private laterals belonging to
<br />"literally thousands of different
<br />owners," McDonald said. In some
<br />cases, a lateral might be privately
<br />, owned by as many as 20 irrigators
<br />and informally maintained through
<br />contract with a public provider, he
<br />said,
<br />
<br />"They are not legal entities with
<br />which the bureau can contract,"
<br />said J.R. Rinckel, manager of the
<br />
<br />bureau's Grand Junction Projects
<br />office.
<br />Aller selection of the responsible
<br />entity or entities, the bureau will
<br />begin negotiations for improve..
<br />ments and maintenance.
<br />Rinckel said the improvements
<br />should not create new costs for the
<br />maintaining entity. "If there are ad.
<br />ditional.costs, they would be borne
<br />by. the 'salinilyconlrol project," he
<br />saId. " ..
<br />Work on the public laterals i~ ex.
<br />pected to begin in 1987. and work
<br />on the private laterals is set for
<br />1991.
<br />
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