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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />C) Agenda Item 11 <br />G~ November 7. 1989 <br />en <br />CJ' <br /> <br />states. Likewise. irrigation canals cannot <br />be improved or modified to control salinity <br />without the permission and cooperation of <br />the local owners and operators of the <br />canals. However. the Upper Basin states <br />and irriqation districts where these <br />proiects need to be constructed do not <br />activelv support the proqram because they <br />do not directly benefit from it. In <br />our opinion. this lack of cooperation and <br />support bY the states and private <br />irriqators is the cause of the Bureau's <br />inability to develop the proiects needed to <br />control salt sources and the primary reason <br />whY so little salt reduction has been <br />accomplished in the last 15 years. Also. <br />this situation has resulted in at least one <br />instance [the McElmo Creek Salinity Control <br />Unit in Colorado] where the Bureau could <br />incur additional costs for non-essential <br />work which was apparently approved to <br />induce the cooperation of local <br />irrigators. (Emphasis supplied). <br /> <br />I hardly need explain to this Board. which has devoted <br />literally thousands of hours of staff effort to the salinity <br />control program. how utterly false this statement is. <br /> <br />The seven states are in the process of determining how to <br />respond to the audit report. At the moment. we are getting the <br />royal bureaucratic runaround from both the Bureau of <br />Reclamation and the Inspector General's Office as to how this <br />might be done. I will report to you orally at the Board <br />meeting on our latest findings in this regard. <br /> <br />Recommendation <br /> <br />I do not believe that any formal action will be required by <br />the Board. David Robbins and I. in our capacities as <br />Colorado's representatives to the Salinity Control Forum. will <br />be pursuing this issue vigorously. Unless the Board believes <br />that we should do anything less than register our objections in <br />the strongest possible manner. we will proceed accordingly. <br /> <br />JWM/gI <br />Enclosure: <br />cc: David <br />David <br /> <br />as stated <br />Robbins (w/o enc.) <br />Holm (w/o enc.) <br /> <br />-2- <br />