WSP07026

• File Number: 8273.100
• Description: Colorado River Basin Salinity Control - Federal Agencies - Bureau of Reclamation
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 10/1/1984
• Author: BOR
• Title: 1984 Evaluation of Salinity Control Programs in the Colorado River Basin
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

w
00
.....:I
o

.~ ~POl't Pr~ pal'afjpn <I FldS i: (J pee

In early 1983, the Colorado River Water Quality Office was asked to evaluate
the progress of the salinity control program for upcoming budget decisions.
The analysis culminated in the Preliminary Evaluation Report and a May 3,
1983, letter from Reclamation sending the evaluation report to the Colorado
River Basin Salinity Control Forum for review and advice.

These two documents were the first steps in the evaluation process leading
to the preparation of this report. A number of questions were raised
on budgets, priority of work, and the effect the weather modification
program would have on the river's salinity. Following distribution of
the preliminary evaluation, a special Work Group meeting of the Colorado
River Basin Salinity Control Forum was held on August 17,1983, to review
the material presented in the report and in the May 3 letter. Many good
suggestions were presented during the special meeting, and on Septemb~r
6, 1983, Myron Holburt, Chai rman of the Work Group, sent the Colorado RiVer
Water Quality Office a letter that summarized the results of their August 17,
1983, m~eting. On October 28, 1983, Jack Barnett, Executive Director of the
ColoradO River Basin Salinity Control Forum, responded to the Commissioner's
May 3, 1983, transmittal letter. All comments were thoroughly considered in
the preparation of this report.

The projections made in this report were made using the CRSS (Colorado
River Simulation System), a sophisticated mathematical representation of
the Colorado River system. The CRSS is composed of a simulation model,
data files which contain basin descriptions, future development projections,
and bastn hydrOlogy, along with related programs to manipulate and display
the inpllt and output from CRSS. CRSS enables users to evaluate the impacts
of changes in development, flow, salt loading, and system operations, among
other variables.

;
'.

A concer-:ted effort was made by Forum Work Group members toprovi de three
wa.ter depletion projections through the year 2000, known as the );nW'; m,ltdj'OiTi;"
and high Forum schedules;. Reclamation incorporated these state depleti'D"n .
projections into the CRSS Demand Data Base and made, in consultation with
several \'Iork Group members, CRSS computer runs using agreed-upon water use
projections. and mean water supplies of 13, 14, and 15 million acre-feet. per
year. The Forum utilized these computer results for the 1984 Review - Water
Quality Standards for Salinity Control - Colorado River System.

Reclamation used the depletion schedules provided by the Forum in developing
its own schedule which approximates the Forum high schedule. Reclamation is
also using the Forum low schedule to provide a range of potential future
development possibilities.

The Reclamation staff has also continued working with members of the
Work Group to develop common lists of water resource projects, development
timetables, and their impacts on salinity reduction.

I

The scope of the evaluation report and the program management assumptions
were discussed with the Forum Work Group at its March 6 and 7, 1984, meeting
in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Major study components are summarized below:

7

-.,,;