WSP07016

• File Number: 8276.800
• Description: Dirty Devil Unit - Colorado River Salinity Control Program
• State: UT
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 5/1/1987
• Title: Planning Report and Finding of No Significant Impact ‎(FONSI)‎
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: EIS

SUMMARY (Continued)

.

Reclamation provided general information on the unit to State and
Federal agencies and to private companies. State agencies included the
Division of Wildlife Resources, the Division of Water Resources, the
Association of Local Governments, and the Department of Agriculture.
Federal agencies included the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the
Forest Service, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM), the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), and the
Geological Survey (USGS). Private companies included the Consolidated
Coal Company and the Hanksville Development Corporation.

After the sources of salt and the potential solutions were iden-
tified, the list of concerned publics was enlarged to include canal
companies along the Fremont and Muddy Rivers, the towns of Emery and
Hanksville, the city of Green River, Wayne and Emery Counties, and the
Castle Valley Special Service District. Reclamation representatives
communicated with concerned publics by attending meetings, sending
newsletters, providing field trips to the unit area, issuing news
releases, requesting specific comments by letter, providing graphic
displays at public facilities, and by one-to-one contact with indi-
viduals. A collect-call telephone service was also provided for public
input.

Alternatives

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During the course of the study, a wide range of possible methods
for reducing salt loading from the area were studied by the planning
team. These included irrigation systems improvements; ret irement of
saline agricultural land in the Emery area; treatment or reuse of irri-
gation drain water; the collection and treatment, disposition, or use of
drainage water from Consolidated Coal Company's Browning Mine; the
selective withdrawal of saline water from Muddy Creek near Hanksville;
the collection and evaporation of saline springs in Hanksville Salt Wash
and Emery South Salt Wash; the collection and deep-well injection of
saline springs; the collect ion of saline spring water to bypass the
source of salt pickup; and the alternative of no action. Two other con-
cepts were considered early in the study but were not pursued by
Reclamation because they would be under the jurisdiction of other
Federal agencies. They were on-farm improvements, a responsibility of
the Soil Conservation Service, and natural surface runoff control, a
responsibility of the Bureau of Land Management. The Soil Conservation
Service is actively involved in the salinity control program, but
currently has no plans for the Emery area. The Bureau of Land
Management area offices are currently limited to general management
responsibilities and do not include specific salinity control projects.

.

These alternative methods were tested against the four tests of
viability (completeness, effectiveness, efficiency, and acceptability)
to determine which should be investigated in greater detail. Only one
alternative, deep-well injection of saline spring water, passed all four
tests. This alternative and the alternative of no action then received
further study and were evaluated economically for cost effectiveness and

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