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Show XII-26 UPDATING THE HOOVER DAM DOCUMENTS Figure 17. LaVerkin Springs discharging highly saline water into Virgin River, Utah. time is the Bureau of Reclamation's Colorado River Water Quality Improvement Program (CRWQIP). Working with several of the States involved, a comprehensive investigation program was structured and launched by the Bureau of Reclamation in FY 1972. Emphasis is placed on controlling salinity from irrigation, diffuse and point sources. Nonstructural measures, such as improving irrigation efficiency, river system management, water system management and utilizing return flows, are being given prime consideration. Other techniques such as structural control of point sources, weather modification, desalting of seawater and geothermal brines, land and vegetation management, erosion control, and waste-water utilization, are undergoing additional research and development to identify their prospects for water quality improvement. An impressive start towards solving the Colorado River salinity problem is provided by Public Law 93-320, the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of June 24, 1974. Title I of the act authorizes a series of undertakings, including the construction of a desalting plant to treat approximately 129 million gallons per day of drain water from the Wellton-Mohawk division of the Gila project, Arizona, to carry out the commitments of the United States in its recent agreement with Mexico, Minute 242 of the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico. Title II of the act authorizes four salinity control units upstream from Imperial Dam as the initial stage of the Colorado River Basin salinity control program - the Paradox Valley and Grand Valley units in Colorado, the Crystal Geyser unit in Utah, and the Las 36 |
