WSP05673

• File Number: 8210.140.20
• Description: Colorado River Basin Organizations and Entities - Colorado River Basin States Forum - California
• State: CA
• Basin: Western Slope
• Date: 5/1/1969
• Author: Myron B Holburt
• Title: Annual Report For the Calendar Year 1968
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Annual Report

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standards will not be e,tablished until we have
sufficient information to a,sure that such stand-
ards wi\! be equitable, workable, and enforce-
able.

The State of Arizona held hearings on July
18, 1968, to amend its standards for interstate
streams previously adopted in compliance with
the Water Qualitv Act of 1965 but which had
been rejected by' the FWPCA. Definite num-
bers were proposed for temperature, bacterio-
logical, turbidity, hydrogen-ion concentration,
and radiological parameters using the recommen-
dations contained in the report entitled "Water
Quality Criteria" of the National Technical
Advisory Committee to the Secretary of the
Interior. The California Department of Public
Health and the State Water Resources Control
Board filed objections to the proposed amended
standards as they concluded needless degradation
of the river would be allowed by them, particu-
larly with regard to temperature and bacteriol-
ogy. Arizona amended its standards on July 18,
1968, without adopting any of the changes rec-
ommended by the California agencies, and they
were subsequ'ently approved by the Secretary of
the Interior.

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Federal Water Pollution Control
Administration Report

The Colorado River Basin \,yater Quality
Control Project of the FWPCA issued a pre-
liminary report in January 1968 entitled "Gen-
eral Ba~kground on the Mineral Pollution Prob-
lem in the Colorado River Basin", which brie/ly
described some of the findings of the Project
on the mineral pollution problem. This report
which will be part of a more comprehensive
report indicates that the depletion of the /low
of the river by use in the Upper Basin is the
chief cause of increasing salinity in the Lower
Basin. The pickup of salts from irrigated areas
in the Upper Basin is the largest man-made
source of mineral pollution in the Upper Basin.
Much of the future action on the salinity prob-
lem will begin upon completion of entire
F\,yPCA report, scheduled for the summer of
1969.

Salinity at International Boundary

The third year of operation, under the five-
year agreement between the United States and
Mexico embodied in Minute No. 218 of the

International Boundary and Water Commission,
was completed on November 15, 1968. Minute
218 provides that at Mexico's request the highly
saline pump-drainage discharge from the Well-
ton-Mohawk project in Arizona will be diverted
around the Mexican diversion dam through the
bypass channel constructed by the Bureau of
Reclamation in 1965. It also provides that if
the bypass occurs during times when Mexican
delivery orders are at the Treaty minimum of
900 cubic feet per second the /low of the river
at Morelos diversion dam will nevertheless be
not less than 900 cubic feet per second.
On August 14, 1968, Governor Reagan ap-
pointed Mr. Gianelli and Mr. Holburt to be the
two California members on the seven-state Com-
mittee of Fourteen. This Committee was fonned
in 1962 in response to the request by the Com-
missioner of the United States Section of the
International Boundary and Water Commission
to assist in resolution of the international prob-
lem which arose from the discharge of Wellton-
Mohawk Project drainage water into the Colo-
rado River.
A meeting of the Committee of Fourteen was
held on December 14, 1968, at which time the
U. S. Commissioner, International Boundary and
Water Commission, and Bureau of Reclamation
officials reported the results of the third year of
operation of the bypass channel, ending Novem-
ber 15, 1968. The following table summarizes
some pertinent statistics from the federal reports.

MINUTE NO. 218 OPERATION

Year previous 1st year
to agreemem 11-16-65
(1964 calendar to
year) 11-1.<-66

2nd year
11-16.66
to
11-Ii.67

3rd year
11-16.67
to
Il.Ii.68

Wcllron-Mohawk
drainage dis-
charge, ae. ft. ____ 181,000
Salt load, tOn5_______ 1,251,000
Di\"erted around
1\.lorelos Dam,
:Ie. ft. mmm"________
Bypass during
mirumum treary
order, ae. ft. "___
Makeup from stor-
age re1ease, ae. ft.
(approx.) ._____._
A \'g. salinity of
ri\-"er at nonherly
boundary, ppm___ 1,310 1,230 1,210 1,190

The above table shows that during the first

three years of operations of Minute 218 the

required makenp from storage has cost users in

216,900 210.530 219,500
1,388,000 1,318,000 1,314,000
105,830 99,100 103.900
58,660 53,390 52,600
15,000 35,000 47.300

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