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Interstate Stream Commission

Review Water Quality Standards For Salinity - Colorado River System

The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum has reviewed the water quality standards for the Colorado River with respect to salinity. The findings of the Forum have been published in the 2008 Review, Water Quality Standards for Salinity, Colorado River System

The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum is an organization of the seven Colorado River Basin states. Federal water quality laws require a review of the adopted water quality standards at least once every three years. The 2005 Review finds no need at this time to modify the Numeric Criteria established in the 1974 Water Quality Standards for Salinity, Colorado River System. The water quality standards also include a plan of implementation to prevent the total dissolved salts in the Colorado River from rising above the 1972 observed levels at three downstream monitoring stations, which are:

  1. Below Hoover Dam (Lake Mead) where Las Vegas obtains much of its water supply;
  2. Below Parker Dam (Lake Havasu) where the Central Arizona Project and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California obtain their water supply; and at
  3. Imperial Dam, the last diversion of Colorado River water in the United States where water is diverted for uses in Arizona's Yuma area and California's Imperial Valley. An almost unlimited supply of salts occurs in marine shales of the Upper Colorado River Basin. The plan of implementation identifies strategies to reduce the dissolution of natural salts to control the salinity of the river.

The Forum also adopts, from time to time, policies for control of salinity and uses of saline water. The adopted policies include a policy for regulation of discharge permits issued through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. The policies are published in each Review and are included in the 2005 Review as Appendix A.

2005 & 2008 Review - Water Quality Standards for Salinity, Colorado River System, Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum, Colorado River Salinity.org

2002 Review - Water Quality Standards for Salinity, Colorado River System

Appendices

Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum Contact Information

Phone number
(801) 292-4663
Website
ColoradoRiverSalinity.org

Mailing address
106 West 500 South, Suite 101
Bountiful, Utah 84010.