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WSP06740
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Last modified
1/26/2010 2:24:09 PM
Creation date
10/12/2006 1:50:52 AM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
Water Supply Protection
File Number
8271.200.60
Description
Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program - Development and History - Ann Rpts-Reviews
Basin
Colorado Mainstem
Water Division
5
Date
10/1/1979
Title
USDA Annual Report - Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program - October 1 1979 - September 30 1980
Water Supply Pro - Doc Type
Annual Report
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<br />...... <br />. c.o <br />c.o <br />--:! <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />The Colorado 'River Basin encompasses portions of seven States: Colorado, <br />Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, California, and Arizona. The river is <br />1,400 miles long, with its headwaters in Wyoming and Colorado. It <br />empties into the Gulf of California and serves some 14.5 million people <br />on its way. It is one of the most physically developed and regulated <br />rivers in the Nation. <br /> <br />The river flow is apportioned among Upper and Lower Basin states and the <br />Republic of Mexico. There are some 2.6 million acres of private <br />irrigated land and some 44 million acres of nonfederal forest and <br />rangeland within the United States (U.S.) portion of the basin. <br /> <br />Salinity control in the Colorado River Basin is addressed in the Colorado <br />River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-320). The <br />Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior (USDI) is <br />assigned leadership responsibilities which he has delegated to the Water <br />and Power Resources Service (WPRS) of that Department. The United States <br />Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency <br />(EPA) are named as cooperating agencies. The Act has two major <br />components. One is to deliver to Mexico the quantity of water agreed to <br />in 1944 at the quality standard agreed to in 1973. This is covered in <br />Title I of the Act which includes a large desalting plant to treat <br />drainage return flows from the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage <br />District near Yuma, Arizona. The second component deals with the <br />salinity concentration in the River aoove Imperial Dam and the controls <br />necessary to meet U.S. water quality standards. This is covered in <br />Title II of the Act. <br /> <br />The Salinity Problem <br /> <br />The salinity of the water delivered to Mexico increased to nearly <br />1500 milligrams per liter (mg/l) in 1961. This was partially due to the <br />highly saline drainage return flows from the Well ton-Mohawk area. <br />Title I of the Act deals with this problem. <br /> <br />The total salt load in the river at Imperial Dam near Yuma, Arizona, is <br />estimated to be 10 million tons per year. To meet the salinity control <br />objective of Title II, it is necessary to remove some 2.8 million tons <br />per year of this salt load. The present average annual salinity <br />concentration of the river varies from about 50 mg/l in the headwaters to <br />about 820 mg/l at Imperial Da~. A future salinity level of 1,150 mg/l at <br />Imperial Dam is projected for the year 2000 as additional upstream <br />development takes place, assuming no corrective action. The long-term <br />average annual salinity concentration at Imperial Dam was 757 mg/l for <br />the 1941-1970 period. Each mg/l increase in salinity concentration <br />causes approximately $0.5 million per year in economic damages to <br />downstream agricultural, municipal, and industrial water users within the <br />U.S. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br /><h, <br /> <br />, .~ <br />"""il..;,Ji <br />~. ~,',,...:,,~ - ....= <br /> <br />~ , <br />
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