A bill to amend the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act to authorize certain additional measures to assure accomplishment of the objectives of title II of such Act, and for other purposes.

(Measure passed Senate, amended)

Directs the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to give preference to those salinity control units which reduce salinity of the Colorado River at the least cost per unit of salinity reduction.

Authorizes the construction, operation, and maintenance of salinity control units for: (1) stage I of the Lower Gunnison Basin unit, Colorado; and (2) the McElmo Creek unit, Colorado. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter into all necessary contracts or agreements with non-Federal entities relating to the construction, operation, and maintenance of such facilities. Requires the Secretary to carry out specified directions in implementing the construction of such units. Allows any salinity control unit authorized to include measures to replace incidental wildlife losses foregone as a result of construction of such unit, with specified exceptions. Directs the Secretary to submit certain reports to appropriate congressional committees and to the Governors of the Colorado River Basin States. Requires non-Federal entities to contract for the long-term operation and maintenance of canal and lateral systems constructed pursuant to any authorized unit construction.

Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a voluntary cooperative program with private landowners to improve on-farm water management and reduce watershed erosion on non-Federal and Department of Agriculture lands. Directs the Secretary to issue reports to certain congressional committees and to certain others. Prohibits the expenditure of funds for measures implementing such program until the lapse of 60 days following submission of such reports.

Authorizes necessary annual appropriations. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress concerning the cooperative program by January 1, 1988, and every five years thereafter.

Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) develop a program for minimizing salt contributions to the Colorado River from lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and to submit a report to Congress and certain others; (2) undertake feasibility studies of saline water use and disposal opportunities; and (3) undertake advanced planning activities on the Sinbad Valley Unit, Colorado.

Provides for the allocation of construction and replacement costs for salinity control units authorized under this Act, along with repayment periods and interest rates as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.