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SALINTTY PROBLEM ON LOWER COLORADO RIVER SUMMARY The salinity problem with Mexico arose in 1961 because the Wellton-Mohawk district began discharging highly saline drainage to the Colorado River. Effective drainage in irrigation is essential, but in accomplishing its drainage the District is discharging four times more mineral salts to the river than is essential to carry its irrigation. ?? As a result, beginning in October 1963 the water delivered to Mexico will contain between 1,700 parts per million of dissolved salts and 2,000 ppm, a salinity level which Mexico has characterized as completely unacceptable. The Bureau of Reclamation considers that water of this salinity is usable and, in any event, the United States has no obligation to deliver water of any particular quality under the provisions of the 1944 Water Treaty. The Department of State considers that it would be extremely difficult to sustain a contention that the terms of the Water Treaty allow the United States to carry on irrigation and-international-law-and-United States-??-law-on-the-subject practices under the present facts and equities which place the United States in an unfavorable position before a judicial tribunal. I. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM (Where there are divergent views between the Department of State and Interior these views are stated separately in parallel columns) 1. Mexico is entitled to 1,500,000 acre-feet annually of the waters of the Colorado River "from any and all sources" under the 1944 Water Treaty with the United States. 2. OnEpson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 2,259,820 byte