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The Colorado River provides water for more than 23 million people and irrigation for more than 4 million acres of land in the United States, as well as water for about 2.3 million people and 500,000 irrigated acres in the Republic of Mexico.  Controlling the salinity of the Colorado River remains one of the most important challenges facing Reclamation.  High salinity levels make it difficult to grow winter vegetables and popular fruits.  In water systems, it plugs and destroys municipal and household pipes and fixtures.  Recent salinities in the lower portion of the Colorado River are typically about 700 mg/L, but in the future may range between 600 and 1,200 mg/L, depending upon the amount of water in the river system.  Salinity damages in the United States portion of the Colorado River Basin range between $500 million to $750 million per year and could exceed $1.5 billion per year if future increases in salinity are not controlled.

The project is located in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, near the towns of Farson and Eden approximately 40 miles north of Rock Springs, Wyoming. The project area extends from one mile north of Farson to two miles south of Eden. The existing Eden Canal off-farm laterals comprise approximately 25 miles of unlined earthen laterals that provide irrigation water to approximately 5,649 acres of irrigated land. The irrigated land includes 509 acres of flood irrigation and 5,140 acres of center pivot sprinkler irrigation. The major irrigated crops in this area include alfalfa, grass hay, barley, oats, and field peas.

The Eden Canal laterals are a component of Reclamation’s Eden Project, completed in 1959. The Eden Project also includes the Big Sandy Dam and Reservoir, the Eden Dam and Reservoir, Little Sandy Canal, the Means Canal, and a lateral and drainage system. The Eden Canal E-13 lateral is approximately 5 miles long from its diversion point on the Eden Canal to the end of the lateral. The proposed pipeline to replace the open Lateral E-13 would also be about five miles long and have an approximate diameter of 48 inches at the beginning and would taper down toward the end of the pipe.