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<br />r <br /> <br />FOREWORD <br /> <br />Authority for Study <br /> <br />The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act (P.L. 93-320) and a <br />memorandum of agreement between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) <br />and the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) gives the SCS responsibility to <br />study the effects of onfarm improvements and the resulting reduction in <br />salinity of the Colorado River. <br /> <br />EIS Development <br /> <br />On May 17, 1977, USBR and the SCS published the Colorado River Water <br />Quality Improvement Program Final Environmental Statement. Additional <br />information now available from the SCS environmental evaluation of USDA <br />federally-assisted onfarm improvements (nonproject action) underway <br />indicates that implementation of various onfarm irrigation water <br />management practices in the Big Sandy River Unit will cause significant <br />adverse local impacts on the environment. As a result, the SCS has <br />prepared this EIS for the Big Sandy River Unit. This document <br />supplements the Colorado River Water Quality Improvement Program Final <br />Environmental Statement. Salinity control and conservation practices to <br />accomplish the onfarm improvements are funded by the U.S. Congress using <br />Colorado River Salinity Control funds administered by the Agricultural <br />Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS). ASCS, the Cooperative <br />Extension Service (CES), and the State of Wyoming's State Engineer's <br />Office, Game and Fish Department, Department of Environmental Quality, <br />and Department of Agriculture are cooperating agencies in the <br />development of this document. <br /> <br />Several onfarm alternatives and one off-farm alternative were considered <br />in order to achieve salt load reduction in the Colorado River while: <br /> <br />(1) minimizing adverse effects on local fish and wildlife <br />resources, and <br /> <br />(2) enhancing the efficiency of irrigated agricultural <br />production. Applicable onfarm practices include adjusting <br />the number and frequency of irrigations, proper time of <br />set and flow rate; pipelines; land leveling; change in <br />irrigation methods; water measurement devices; automated <br />timing devices; and development, preservation, and <br />enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat. <br /> <br />The information in this document is based on the Colorado River Water <br />Quality Improvement Program Final Environmental Statement; USDA Salinity <br />Reports for the Lower Gunnison Basin Unit (September 1981); the Uintah <br />Basin Unit (July 1979 and supplemented November 1980); Colorado River <br />Water Quality Improvement Program, Final Environmental Impact Statement <br />for Lower Gunnison Basin Unit, Montrose and Delta Counties, Colorado and <br />Uintah Basin Unit, Duchesne, Wasatch and Uintah Counties, Utah (April <br />1982); and the Big Sandy River Unit (November 1980 and supplemented May <br /> <br />F-1 <br /> <br />~, ,. ~ (, -" ,( <br />I 'J \ ,,"\ l <br />,. I" ~ "I v.L <br />