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The Proposed Action entails replacing a total of approximately 18,709 lineal feet (approximately 3.5 miles) of open irrigation ditch with buried pipe, both to improve the efficiency of water delivery to ditch users, and to reduce salinity loading in the Colorado River Basin. Most of the buried pipe alignment will be located within existing ditch alignments, and about 1.4 miles of existing ditch alignment will be abandoned. A total of about 4.9 miles of existing ditch and proposed pipe alignments were considered under this assessment.

Seepage from unlined leaking irrigation ditches in the region is a significant source of ground water which mobilizes naturally-occurring salts in the Mancos Shale-derived soils and underlying shale formations. Construction of the Proposed Action will provide a buried pipe delivery system to replace existing unlined ditches, which will eliminate seepage and reduce salinity in the Colorado River basin by an estimated 1,038 tons of salt per year. This will provide benefits for a broad spectrum of interests, including downstream water users, environmental interests, and local, state, and federal government agencies