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<br />Co<.) <br />CD <br />w <br />ro <br /> <br />SUMMARY <br /> <br />Section 303 of the Clean Water Act requires that water quality standards be reviewed <br />from time to time, but at least once during each three-year period. Accordin~ly, the seven-state <br />Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum (Forum) haS reviewed the eXIsting state-adopted <br />and Environmental Protection Agency (E:PA) approved water quality standards for salinity <br />consisting of numeric criteria and a plan of implementation for salinity control for the Colorado <br />River System. Changes in hydrologiC conditions and water use within the Colorado River Basin <br />have been evaluated, and this Review presents the recommended revisions to the plan of <br />implementation which are to be submitted to each of the Basin states for consideration at a Jlublic <br />hearing prior to adoption. This final report replaces the earlier version dated June 1993 and <br />constitutes the Forum's recommendation. <br /> <br />The Forum recommends no change in the numeric salinity criteria at the three lower main <br />stem stations. The numeric criteria at these stations will remam: <br /> <br />Station <br />Below Hoover Dam <br />Below Parker Dam <br />Imperial Dam <br /> <br />Salini~~n m!!/L * <br />747 <br />879 <br /> <br />*Flow.weighted average annual salinity. <br /> <br />The plan of implementation as set forth in the 1993 Review is designed to meet the <br />objective of maintaining the salinity concentrations at or below the numeric criteria while the <br />Basin states continue to develop their compact-apportioned waters. The plan is based on the use <br />of the long-term mean water supply of 15 million acre-feet annually. The Forum recommends <br />that the plan of implementation described in this report be carried out. The plan of <br />implementation includes: . <br /> <br />1. Completion of the Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, and the <br />Department of Agriculture salinity control units shown in the following table, to the extent that <br />each unit remains viable and appropriately cost-effective. The plan's current remaining federal <br />construction costs for the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Agriculture activities <br />are approximately $483 million. <br /> <br />2. Imposition of effluent limitations, principally under the National Pollutant Discharge <br />Elimination System (NPDES) permit program on mdustrial and municipal discharges by <br />implementation of the Forum-recommended "Policy for Implementation of Colorado River <br />Salinity Standards Through the NPDES Permit Program. " <br /> <br />3. Implementation of the Forum-recommended "Policy for Use of Brackish and/or Saline <br />Waters for Industrial Purposes. " <br /> <br />4. Implementation of the Forum-recommended "Policy for Implementation of the <br />Colorado River Salinity Standards Through the NPDES Permit Program for Intercepted Ground <br />Water. " <br /> <br />5. Implementation of the Forum-recommended .Policy for Implementation of the <br />Colorado River Salinity Standards Through the NPDES Permit Program for Fish Hatcheries." <br /> <br />6. Implementation of nonpoint source management plans developed by the states and <br />approved by EPA. <br /> <br />v <br />