What are the water quality issues of the Lake Powell Pipeline project?
As part of the EIS process the water quality impacts of diverting 100,000 af of water annually from Lake Powell will be reviewed. One potential impact could be the increase in salinity caused by the depletion of water by the project. The Colorado River Basin States have already developed the mitigation for any increase in salinity in the river water delivered to the LD States and Mexico, with the passage and funding of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act in 1974 by Congress. All seven basin states continue to participate in the salinity control program with the US Departments of Interior and Agriculture with the objective of allowing continued water development by the UD states while at the same time reducing the salt load in the river. Since its inception, the salinity control program has prevented more than 1.0 million tons of salt annually from entering the Colorado River. • What is the present per-capita water use in Southwestern Utah? Based on reports recently published
