Evaluation of hydrogeologic aspects of proposed salinity control in Paradox Valley, Colorado

The salt load in the Dolores River increases by about 200,000 tons per year where it crosses Paradox Valley, Colorado, because of the discharge of a sodium chloride brine from an underlying aquifer. A ground-water management program to nearly eliminate this major source of salt, which eventually enters the Colorado River, can be designed on the basis of an accurate description of the hydrogeologic framework of Paradox Valley.