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<br />MAY 1Q82 <br /> <br />1. SUMMARY <br /> <br />This USDA salinity control study was carried out under Public Law <br /> <br />93-320, the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act (88 Stat. 266), dated <br /> <br />June 24, 1974. Section 201(c) of the Act directs the Secretary of the <br /> <br />Interior, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the <br /> <br />Secretary of Agriculture to cooperate and coordinate their activities <br /> <br />effectively to carry out objectives of Title II of the Act as the basin <br /> <br />states continue developing their compact apportioned water. The McElmo <br /> <br />Creek Unit, known localiy as the Montezuma Valley, is one of five diffuse <br /> <br />source control units designated in the Act for expeditious completion of a <br /> <br />planning report as a means to implement the salinity control policy adopted <br /> <br />for the Colorado River. <br /> <br />The USDA has two primary purposes in the McElmo Creek study: (1) to <br /> <br />determine the contribution of salt loading from the irrigated farm land; and <br /> <br />(2) to determine the opportunity for reducing salt loading through <br /> <br />improvements in irrigation systems and practices. <br /> <br />The scope of the study was limited to inventorying and analyzing <br /> <br />current irrigation systems and practices on a sample of the irrigated land <br /> <br />and off-farm laterals. Results of these analyses were expanded to be <br /> <br />representative of the approximately 29,100 acres of irrigated land and about <br /> <br />235 miles of off-farm laterals in the Montezuma Valley. Canals in the <br />-.. ---- <br />Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company's distribution system are being <br /> <br />evaluated by the Bureau of Reclamation and were not studied by USDA. <br /> <br />Results of investigation were discussed at joint meetings throughout the <br /> <br />study where areas of common concern were identified and issues were <br /> <br />resolved. <br /> <br />I-I <br /> <br />n ,', 4 81 8 <br />\,.: :._ J.. .. <br />