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In/roduct;on ~;' -J Water Quality ,- .....'.' c., Although a numb~r of water quail I) r~latr:d legl,-lauH' actions ha\~ been t;ll,.en on th~ Slate and Federal k'\'eh. four Federal a..::ts are of ~peclal "Igmficance 10 the Colorado R1\er Ba'lln (Ba~lnl-th~ Water QU.ll1t) Act of 1965 and rdll~d amendment... th~ F~deral Water Pollution Control .-\\:t Amendm~nt.. 0119n (Public Law 9~-5001. the Colorado RI\w BJ.sin Sahnn) Control Act o1197~ J.s amended. and the Clean \Vater Act of 1977 as amended. Also central to water qUJ.hty issues are agreement'! with ~1e:\ICO on Colorado RIver S) stem water.. entenng thai country. The Water Qua\Jty Act of 1965 (Public Law S9.~3"'1 J.mended the Federal W::lIer Pollution Control Act and e..labli..hed a F~deral Water Pollution Control AdmlnistrJ.tion (now Environm~ntal Prot~clion Agency [EPA]). Among other pro\'Islon... It reqUIred States to adopt water qualil)' emeria for interstal~ waters Imide their boundarie... The ~even BaSin States initially develop~d wat~r quality ~tandards that did not mclude numenc :-.ahnlty cntena lor Ihe Colorado River pnmanly becaus~ 01 technical comlrJ.ints. In 197~. the Basm States agreed to a policy that called for Ihe malOtenanc~ of salmity concentralions In the Low~r Colorado River Syslem at or below e\isting level... while th~ Upper BaSIn States contmued 10 deH~lop theIr compact.apportion~d waters. The Basin States suggesled that R~damJuon should have pflmary responsibilny for investigJting. planOlng. and implementing the propo~ed SJlimty Control Program. The enactm~nl of th~ F~deral Water PollUllon Control Act Amendments of 197::! affecl~d salinilY control in that the legislation was interpreted by EPA to require numerical standards for salinity in the Colorado RiVer. In respons~. the Basin Slates founded the Colorado River Basm Salinity Control Forum (Forum) 10 develop waler qualilY standards Including numeric saltnny criteria and a basmwide plan of implementation for salinity control. The BaSin Stales held public m~etings on the proposed standards as required by the enactmg legislation. The Forum recommended thai the individual Ba..'n StJtes adopt the report. \\",lfer Quality Swnd'lrds for Salim'\" hIe/tiding Nwnaic Crileria and Plan of Implementation for Salinity COfllroJ. Colorado Ri\'u S.vsrem. The proposed water quailt)' standard called for maintenaOl.:e 01 flow. weighted averag~ total dissolved solids con,.-~ntrations of 723 Imlilgrams per ilter Img/L) below Hoover Dam. 747 mgfL below Parker Dam. and 879 mgIL at Impenal Dam Included 10 the plan of implementJllon were four salmity control U01tS and pOSSIbly addlllonaJ units. the application 01 dtluent hmitations. the use 01 saline water whene\'cr prJ.ctIcable. md future studies. The standards are 10 be rc\'iewed ::H 3-year Inlef'\als. All of the Basin States adopted the 1975 Forum recommend~d standards. EPA approved the standards. The ColorJdo River 8a5m Salinity Comrol Act 01 1974 (Sahnil~ Control Act) (Public Law 9J.3~0) provided the means 10 comply with Umted States' obligallons to ~te:",lCO which mcluded. as ::l major feature. a desallmg plant and brine discharge canal. These facilities will enable the Coited States to delIver water to ~1e'ICO having In aver::lge salimty no greater than 115 pans per million (ppml +1. 30 ppm (UOlted Stat~s coum) over Ih~ JnnuJI average .$Jlinity of the Colorado RIver at Impenal Dam. The act also authorized construction of -1 salinity conlrol units and the C\pedlled pl::l1lmng of I:! other salinity control projects abo\'e Imperial Dam as part of the basinwide sallnit~ comrol plan. In 1978, the Forum renewed the sahnit) slandJrds and r~commendcd continuing the construction 01 Unit!. u.1enufied 10 the 197... acl. the placmg 01 eftluent IImltallonS on IOdustnal and municipal 3