Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program

 

To provide financial and technical assistance to: (1) Identify salt source areas; (2) develop project plans to carry out conservation practices to reduce salt loads; (3) install conservation practices to reduce salinity levels; (4) carry out research, education, and demonstration activities; (5) carry out monitoring and evaluation activities; and (6) to decrease salt concentration and salt loading which causes increased salinity levels within in the Colorado River and to enhance the supply and quality of water available for use in the United States and the Republic of Mexico.

Deleted 10/11/2010 (Archived.) 10.070 Agency: Department of Agriculture
Office: Natural Resources Conservation Service Direct Payments for Specified Use. This program is operated in 6 project areas in 3 States (Colorado, Utah and Wyoming). Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974, as amended, Section 202c of Title II, 43 U.S.C. 1592c; Section 201, Public Law 93-320, 88 Stat. 271; Section 2, Public Law 98-569, 98 Stat. 2933, 43 U.S.C. 1592(c). A participant may be any of the following: an owner, landlord, operator, or tenant of eligible lands: Individual, Indian tribe, partnership, firm, association, corporation, joint stock company, conservation district, estate, trust, irrigation district or company, and State or local public or nonpublic entity not described above. Any person in the Colorado River basin will benefit who uses or reuses water for irrigation, domestic, municipal or industrial water supply or for fish and wildlife habitat. Any eligible landowner or operator who controls land in an identified salt source area is eligible to apply for cost-share assistance. This program is currently available in Mesa, Delta, Montezuma, and Montrose counties, Colorado; Duchesne and Uintah counties, Utah; Sweetwater county, Wyoming. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-87. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-102. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. Eligible persons may make application on Form SCS-LTP-001. CRSC contracts may be requested during sign-up periods throughout the year at the local NRCS office in the county where the land is located. This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-110. The designated project Contracting officer may approve applications within the project allocation of Federal funds for cost-share assistance. None. None. Participants may appeal any determination to the National Appeals Division, Washington, DC. Certain practice approvals may be extended by the contracting Offices. The type and severity of salinity problems; the need to correlate on the farm conservation treatment with canal and lateral improvement; estimated cost; extent of the salinity problem; proximity to water bodies; land use charges; offsite effects; onsite environmental effects; other resource problems; seasonal nature of salinity reduction practices to be installed; applicants' ability to complete practices in the shortest time practical; and positive or negative effects on wildlife. Eligible owners or operators in approved project areas may receive cost-share assistance to treat salinity problems caused by agricultural irrigation activities. None. Subject to audit by Office of the Inspector General, USDA. Records are maintained in the NRCS office and Federal record centers for a specified number of years. Cost-share assistance levels may be funded up to 70 percent of total cost. Long-term contracts of 3 to 10 years. Cost-share assistance is paid when the practice is performed. Consult the local telephone directory for location of the local NRCS field office. If there is no listing, get in touch with the appropriate State NRCS office listed in the NRCS section of Appendix IV of the Catalog. Financial Assistance Programs Division, Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC 20013. Dave Mason ,Telephone: (202) 720-1873. Use the same number for FTS. http://www.nrsc.usda.gov. 12-3318-0-1-304. (Direct payments) FY 07 $0; FY 08 est $0; and FY 09 est not reported. (Salaries and Expenses) FY 07 est $10,000; FY 08 est $0; and FY 09 est not reported. The range has not been identified. Average: $20,000. Guidelines are announced through the news media and in letters to agricultural producers in the county. For the past several fiscal years, salinity control activities were funded under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).