Review of Colorado River Quality Standards

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 2005 Review, Water Quality Standards for Salinity, Colorado River System, which is available by phoning or writing the Forum offices. The phone number is (801)292-4663 and the address is 106 West 500 South, Suite 101, Bountiful, Utah 84010. Also, the Draft 2005 Review has been posted on the Forum's web page that can be obtained via the internet at www.ColoradoRiverSalinity.org or from the New Mexico State Engineer's web page at www.seo.state.nm.us.

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 (3) at 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.

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	2005 Review - Water Quality Standards for Salinity, Colorado River System
	2002 Review - Water Quality Standards for Salinity, Colorado River System
		Chapters 1 and 2
		Chapters 3 and 4
		Chapters 5 and 6
	Appendices
		Appendix A - Regulatory History Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act as Amended and Appendix B - Forum Policies
		Appendix C - List of NPDES Permits
		Appendix D - Comments and Forum Responses - Written Responses Received