Mancos River Salinity Project
More than 33 million people in U.S. plus over 3 million people in Mexico depend solely or partially on the Colorado River for agricultural, municipal, and industrial use.
It is estimated that the Colorado River carries an average salt load of 9 millions tons annually. Salt dissolved in the Colorado River causes over $300 million in damages each year.
A long-term, inter-state, and inter-agency public/private partnership effort is being carried out to reduce the amount of salts in the river and its associated impacts in the basin. This effort is called the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Project.
The Mancos River Salinity Control Project, administered locally through the Colorado State Conservation Board, aims to prevent salts from dissolving and mixing with our river’s flow. NRCS Employees carry out the program, assisting with irrigation improvements and vegetation management, to reduce water available to transport salts vertically, laterally, and on the soil surface.
