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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />o <br />r- <br />OCI <br /> <br />(:.) <br /> <br />... .j <br /> <br />This concept provides Colorado with additional employment <br />opportunities and a diversified employment base. Prospects for <br />growth and expansion of the STEP pollution control technology are <br />provided as added incentitive to investors, The Colorado Basin <br />benefits from the reduced salinity of the river, and from the fact <br />that this technology is transferable for the treatment of other <br />problem saline sources, <br /> <br />c:' <br /> <br />BIOLOGICAL AND NATURAL RESOURCE CONSIDERATIONS <br /> <br />Three biological processes must function efficiently to maximize the <br />overall effectiveness of the STEP technology. First, the candidate <br />plant must be able to grow and reproduce in the Grand Junction region <br />in order to make beneficial use of Glenwood Springs saline water. To <br />accomplish this, the plant must be able to photosynthesize <br />efficiently in saline waters and produce sufficient energy to <br />maintain growth and salt balance. <br /> <br />Second, the plant needs to actively transpire against a high salt <br />concentration gradient within the soil. This will permit salt <br />concentrating to be accomplished by the plant at levels that make <br />further concentrating steps more economical. <br /> <br />Third, the plant needs to continue to synthesize compounds that are <br />valuable to the nutrition of livestock and(or to chemicals <br />manufacture. This mandates that mechanisms must exist within the <br />plant to protect it from salt degradation, <br /> <br />Environmental Conditions and Performance Expectations <br /> <br />Each of the above is given careful consideration. comparing <br />biological capacities and characteristics recorded for salt tolerant <br />species within their natural habitats to the physical and chemical <br />properties of Glenwood Springs saline water, as well as to the Grand <br />Junction region, in order to arrive at process design criteria. The <br />results are shown in Table 1 ' <br /> <br />Product Opportunities <br /> <br />An analysis of the chemical composition of halophylic emergent plants <br />was conducted which uncovered a variety of product opportunities that <br />are dependent upon species, growth conditions, and markets. Salt <br />content may benefit the forage value of these crops by improving the <br />mineral composition of feed mixes, Similarly, species able to <br />tolerate highest internal salt concentrations are the most likely <br />candidates to produce extractable chemicals, such as mannitol, <br />resorcinol, and amino-acetic acid. This opens a broad spectrum of <br />opportunities. <br /> <br />Species Selection <br /> <br />The six <br />species <br /> <br />in Table 2 were <br />deployment in <br /> <br />found to contain <br />STEP processes, <br /> <br />genera of plants shown <br />that appeared suited for <br /> <br />E-3 <br />