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SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS IN IRRIGATION RETURN FLOW QUALITY CONTROL. VOLUME IV. GRAND VALLEY CASE STUDY
Citation:
Skogerboe, G., P. Huszar, G. Radosevich, W. Trock, AND E. Vlachos. SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS IN IRRIGATION RETURN FLOW QUALITY CONTROL. VOLUME IV. GRAND VALLEY CASE STUDY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/2-78/174D.
Description:
The Grand Valley was used as a case study area for developing an effective process for implementing technical and institutional solutions to the problem of pollution from irrigation return flows. This area is the most significant agricultural salt source in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The primary source of salinity is from the extremely saline aquifers overlying the marine deposited Mancos Shale formation. Subsurface irrigation return flows resulting from conveyance seepage losses and over irrigation of croplands dissolve salts from this formation before returning to the Colorado River. The most cost-effective technologies for reducing the salt load are a combination of lateral lining and on-farm improvements. Farmer participation in such a program is very important. Implementation will result in excess water being available for selling, renting or leasing to water users upstream from Grand Valley.