[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 58 (Monday, May 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     COLORADO RIVER COMPACT OF 1922

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                           HON. BOB SCHAFFER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 11, 1998

  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Jack Barnett, the 
Executive Director of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum 
came to Washington, D.C., and visited my office on April 28, 1998. He 
discussed the Colorado River Compact of 1922 which allocated water 
among the seven basin states along the Colorado River. The Colorado 
River is apparently getting more saline as demand for water increases 
on the Colorado River. The geology of the basin particularly 
contributes to salinity in the Colorado River. Eroding shale in the 
semi-arid climate leaves salt deposits that amount to nine and one-half 
tons of salt annually being deposited in Lake Mead. In 1972, under the 
Clean Water Act discussions, the seven basin states agreed to take a 
collaborative approach to water quality protection. Under this 
approach, the basin states must submit a water quality plan every three 
years to EPA.
  Mr. Barnett relayed to me the values of incentive-based programs 
related to water quality and quantity along the Colorado River. For 
example, through cost share programs associated with the Salinity 
Control Forum, irrigators are switching to more efficient, more 
technologically advanced systems, like surge irrigation. Surge 
irrigation takes advantage of chemical properties in the soil to 
enlarge the water coverage on a field. Rather than overly soaking 
ground close to the ditches, surge irrigation surpasses the ground that 
is already wet to find dry soil further away. Accordingly, less water 
is used to produce more from the same field. I commend such voluntary, 
incentive-based programs that help improve water quality and water 
quantity along the Colorado River. Such programs are important to my 
constituents in Colorado, and I thank Mr. Barnett for bringing this 
program to my attention.

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