| OCR Text |
Show C. WATER QUALITY STANDARDS Under the authority of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act the Secretary of the Interior requested each State to submit proposed pollution control criteria on all interstate streams, including the Colorado River by June 30, 1967. The alternative to the States preparing "acceptable" criteria by that date, was to have the Federal Government establish standards for them. Representatives of the seven Colorado River Basin States have been working for several years in the preparation of pollution control criteria that would be acceptable to the Federal government and mutually agreeable to all seven States. State-drafted criteria were submitted by the States by June 30, 1967. Specific figures were purposely omitted from the criteria, principally at the insistence of representatives of the Upper Division States, due to the adverse implications of such figures by limiting the future development of the Upper Basin's water resources without respect for the protective terms of the Colorado River Compact and Upper Colorado River Basin Compact. By letter of August 17, 1967 the Colorado River Basin States were notified as follows by the Director for the Southwest Region of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration: "This will confirm the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration policy announced by Mr. Herbert Clare, Director of the Kansas City Regional Office, last week relative to the requirement for establishing total dissolved solids criteria for the Colorado River system, namely: 'Specific numerical criteria for TDS will be required for the Colorado River system based upon present quality, contiguous state compatibility and a not-to-exceed limit of 1000 mg/l at Imperial Dam. A detailed program for the establishment of these criteria including such specific, significant chemical characteristics as chlorides, sulfates, sodium, and boron should be set forth. This program must assure that the required numerical values will be established within two years.' "The establishment now of the 1000 mg/l TDS limit at Imperial Dam and a detailed description of a two-year program for the establishment of the remaining numerical criteria will make the water quality standards submitted for the Colorado River system, as far as the mineral quality is concerned, acceptable to the Commissioner of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration." 33 |
