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<br />c) <br />(=) <br />~ <br />00 <br />(~ <br />~ <br /> <br />costs of irrigation and drainage systems, Municipal and industrial water users <br /> <br />experience detriments in a number of ways, including high soap consUmption, re- <br /> <br />duced service life of plumbing and appliances, added ,rater treatment and condition_ <br /> <br />ing costs, and increased process water costs. Groundwater basins are also <br /> <br />degraded by use of saline water. <br /> <br />Studies have been made by many investigators of the dollar impact of these <br /> <br />detriments, with the three recent studies by the EPA, the Colorado River Board, <br /> <br />and the Bureau of Reclamation all estimating the costs in dollars to municipal, <br /> <br />industrial, and agricultural users. While varying in details, the studies all <br /> <br />show that Colorado River water users will experience increases in detriments costing <br /> <br />the users millions of dollars a year as a result of projected salinity increases. <br /> <br />The Board's studies indicate that, unless action is taken to control salinity <br /> <br />and with the Upper Basin continuing to develop as forecasted in the Board's <br /> <br />studies, the total economic impact in the three Lower Colorado River Basin states <br /> <br />due to projected increases in Colorado River salinity would be in excess of 50. <br /> <br />million dollars a year by the turn of the century. In addition, significant <br /> <br />detriments would be experienced by Colorado River water users in Mexico. <br /> <br />It should be recognized that the detriments to municipal users result from <br /> <br />the loss of a portion of the economic life of facilities and from added costs of <br /> <br />using water with a high salinity, and are not due to health considerations. <br /> <br />Studies that have been made to date have found no correlation between the levels of <br /> <br />salinity involved in the Colorado River studies and negative impacts on the health <br /> <br />of individuals, Lower salinity waters are desirable for drinking water purposes, <br /> <br />but the principal advantage of such waters is a more pleasing taste. This situa- <br /> <br />tion has been recognized in the U. S. Public Health Service Drinking Water Stan- <br /> <br />dards, wherein limits for total dissolved solids are not mandatory, but are set <br /> <br />5 <br />