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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />Najor Title I Works <br /> <br />Major facilities and activities authorized under Title I of the 1974 Act <br />include: (1) the Yuma Desalting Plant, the major feature of the project which <br />will treat poor quality drainage water for delivery to Nexico; (2) the WHIDD <br />irrigation drainage reduction program, which was designed to reduce the <br />quantity of poor quality drainage water to be treated by the Desalting Plant <br />and thereby reduce the cost of construction and operation; (3) the Bypass <br />Drain from Norelos Dam to the Santa Clara Slough to dispose of reject stream <br />from the Desalting Plant and other bypassed water; (4) concrete lining of the <br />first 49 miles of the Coachella Canal in California to conserve water and, <br />therefore, replace bypassed WHIDD drainage flows during an interim period <br />while the Desalting Plant was under construction and prior to any required <br />reductions in Colorado River water deliveries to water users within the State <br />of California; and (5) a well field in Arizona known as the Protective and <br />Regulatory Pumping Unit (PRPU), which recovers ground-water and combines it <br />with irrigation drainage flow to deliver up to 140,000 af per year of water at <br />the Southerly International Boundary with Mexico. <br /> <br />Current Situation <br /> <br />The United States has complied with the salinity differential of <br />Ninute No. 242 since 1974. The United States has achieved this compliance <br />through bypassing all WHIDD irrigation drainage to the Slough and substituting <br />good quality water from upstream storage for delivery to Nexico. For an <br />interim period that began in 1982, the United States has replaced the <br />additional water released from storage to meet the delivery obligation to <br />Hexico with the water conserved by lining the Coachella Canal. <br /> <br />The facilities, essential to operation of the Desalting Plant, have been <br />constructed. Construction costs are expected to reach $258 million upon <br />completion of all related work. The Desalting Plant is currently operating at <br />one-third capacity, resulting in the production of about 23,000 af per year of <br />desalted water. The Desalting Plant is scheduled to continue to operate at <br />this capacity throughout the remainder of fiscal year 1993. Full-scale <br />operation, maintenance, and replacement expenses are expected to be <br />$33.7 million per year, recovering about 78,500 af per year of irrigation <br />drainage. <br /> <br />The WHIDD Irrigation Drainage Reduction Program was originally successful in <br />reducing irrigation drainage pumping and, therefore, successful in reducing <br />the amount of water to be treated by the Desalting Plant. In recent years, <br />the Federal program has not been active, and irrigation efficiency has <br />declined to about 58 percent, while irrigation drainage pumping has increased <br />to about 145,000 af per year. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is <br />concerned about the recent increases in ground-water pumping and intends to <br />take measures to ensure that drainage pumping not exceed that deemed essential <br />to prevent crop damage. <br /> <br />Concrete lining of the first 49 miles of the Coachella Canal was completed in <br />1982 and conserves an estimated 132,000 af per year. This conserved water <br />supply is available to the United States to offset the impact on reservoir <br /> <br />ii <br />