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Uinta Basin Unit, Utah ..... ~ o CD This unit is located in northeastern Utah. Seepage from conveyance systems and deep percolation, resulting from irrigation, dissolve salts from the soils and shales and convey the salts through the ground-water system to natural drainages and, ultimately, to the Colorado River. The Uinta Basin contributes an estimated 450,000 tons of salt to the Colorado River annually. Reclamation Reclamation has proposed this unit for construction, and the proposal has been sent to the Department of the Interior for review. Under the preferred plan, canals and laterals would be lined to reduce seepage losses and the associated salt pickup. The Department of the Interior has asked the Office of Management and Budget to comment on the budgetary impacts of the unit. USDA Implementation began in this unit in 1980. During 1993, 156 new contracts were approved for a total of 1,526 CRSC contracts and ACP salinityllong-term agreements since the program began. There are 345 applications pending approval. The rate of applying salinity reduction and wildlife habitat replacement practices continues to increase. The major practices being installed are sprink1er systems, improved surface systems, underground pipelines, and gated pipe. In this area, a large number of groups are replacing earthen laterals with pipelines to provide gravity pressure for onfarm sprink1er systems. A demonstration plot is being established on Ute Indian Tribal land to illustrate the benefits of sprink1er irrigation; teach the principles of irrigation schednling; and provide data on crop rotations, yields, and costs, and to determine fair market lease agreements. A sprink1er irrigation demonstration and field day was conducted for the Ute Indian Tribe during the year. Through- out the unit, special emphasis is being placed on 18 working with individual farmers on the principles of irrigation water management. In August, a special field review of the wildlife habitat replacement activities was conducted to address wildlife habitat replacement concerns, including the tracking system. Representatives from EPA, FWS, ASCS, Cooperative Extension Service, SCS, and the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum attended. An action plan has been prepared to address the concerns identified in the field review. Other Activities USDA USDA Agricultural Research Service continues to provide valuable salinity research. Research is conducted at the Snake River Conservation Center in Kimberly, Idaho; the U.S. Salinity Laboratory in Riverside, California; and in Fort Collins, Colorado. USDA monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities are underway in the Grand Valley, Uinta Basin, Big Sandy River, Lower Gunnison Basin, McElmo Creek, and Moapa Valley Units. As part of these activities, USDA is monitoring the effects of the salinity control program on salt load reductions, monitoring the economic impacts, and tracking the effects on wildlife habitat. M&E activities have been conducted for about 8 years in the Grand Valley and Uinta Basin. An annual report is prepared for each unit to provide information on the monitoring and evaluation activities. These reports contain the detailed information obtained from specific sites which are being monitored to determine the effects of implementation on salt loading and wildlife habitat. Special efforts continue on refinement of the methods to monitor and track implementation effects on wetlands and other wildlife habitat. A USDA salinity control program video was completed in 1993. It included footage from each of the salinity control units and interviews with farmers who are participating in the program. The video was widely distributed to various agencies and organizations. Copies were provided to USDA offices in each salinity unit and to the Forum and Forum Work Group.