Water Quality

Through fiscal year 1994, the Interior and Agriculture Departments (USDA) spent $362 million on salinity control projects in six states. Interior's Bureau of Reclamation and USDA estimate that they will spend about $428 million more for additional projects, while Interior's Bureau of Land Management expects to spend $800,000 in fiscal year 1995. In selecting salinity control methods, the agencies consider several factors, key among them the methods' effectiveness and cost. According to Interior's measurements of the salinity control program's effectiveness, salinity levels in the Colorado River since 1974 have been below limits set by the Clean Water Act. With completion of the projects under construction or planned, salinity levels should stay within the established limits beyond 2010. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Water Quality: Information on Salinity Control Projects in the Colorado River Basin, by James Duffus III, Director of Natural Resources Management Issues, before the Subcommittee on Water and Power Resources, House Committee on Resources. GAO/T-RCED-95-185, May 11, 1995 (8 pages).

GAO found that: (1) federal agencies spent about $362 million on salinity control projects through September 1994 and plan to spend an additional $430 million on land management activities; (2) the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) spent about $266 million on salinity control projects, primarily to line irrigation canals to eliminate water seepage; (3) the Bureau of Land Management spent about $7 million on its salinity control projects which concentrated on reducing the erosion of soil that has a high salt content; (4) the Department of Agriculture spent about $89 million to reduce water seepage through more efficient irrigation methods; (5) the key factors in selecting salinity control methods include effectiveness, cost, feasibility, and effect on the environment; (6) salinity levels have been at or below the Environmental Protection Agency's limits; and (7) BOR expects salinity levels to remain within the established limits beyond 2010 with the addition of new salinity control projects.