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<br />Continued }Tom pa,ge I
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<br />III
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<br />Colorado River 'storage
<br />re8ervoi~:
<br />Hoover Dam- ami lttke
<br />Mead- totalstora,ge of
<br />28,537"000 acre.{eet:
<br />maximum generation
<br />capacity of 2,070
<br />megawatts; and more
<br />than i million visitors
<br />8linually
<br />DaJis Dam and Lake
<br />Mokatk ~ total st~rage
<br />of 1,818,300 aere:~feet~
<br />maximum generation
<br />capac:ityof 240
<br />megawattsj and more
<br />than 2. million visitors.
<br />. annually
<br />PitrkerDam Gll.d:Lake
<br />Hav(Uu~::to(al- ~tor~g(' of
<br />64??OOO':acre~feet; max-
<br />imum h1etwralion capao,
<br />ity of 120 megawattI';
<br />mid ri,~re th~n 1..8 mil-
<br />lioh visitors mutually'
<br />
<br />Other danis onlhe lower
<br />Comrcu.lo River;
<br />Headgate RiJck'Di:lm,-
<br />water diversion: aud
<br />liydropower, .
<br />Palo Verde,Diversiolt
<br />J)a.1rl - water di,'ersion
<br />Scr,uaor'Wa#l Dam,.
<br />pump-storage
<br />Imperial Dam .. watf'r
<br />.diversiOll
<br />Laguna Dam - river
<br />~~ulatjon
<br />Motelos pam (Republie
<br />of-Mexico) ~ :divel'sion
<br />
<br />II
<br />
<br />N~te: Generation eapadty
<br />is dependent-upol'! reset.
<br />voir elevatioris. It take>;
<br />nearJy full reservoir c'ondi..
<br />tions to reach full genera.;:
<br />tion capacity.
<br />
<br />..
<br />
<br />under CRSP: the Wayne N"
<br />Aspinall Unit in Colorado
<br />(with Blue Mesa, Crystal
<br />and Morrow Point dams),
<br />Flaming Gorge Dam in
<br />Utah, Navajo Dam in New
<br />Mexico and Glen Canyon
<br />Dam in Arizona. The key
<br />purposes of the storage
<br />projects are to regulate the
<br />flow of the Colorado River;
<br />store water for beneficial
<br />consumptive use; provide
<br />for reclamation of arid and
<br />semiarid lands; provide
<br />control of floods; and gen-
<br />erate hydroelectric power
<br />as an incident of the fore.
<br />going purposes. With the
<br />later enactment of the
<br />Endangered Species Act,
<br />the National Environ-
<br />mental Policy Act, plus the
<br />1970 Operating Criteria,
<br />henefits from the CRSP
<br />units also are now provided
<br />for fish and environmental
<br />protection purposes"
<br />The six dams have a total
<br />storage capacity of 34 mil.
<br />lion acre-feet. Glen
<br />Canyon Dam is the largest
<br />and is the key element in
<br />controlling water releases
<br />to the lower basin. A mini-
<br />mum of 823 million acre-
<br />feet is released to the lower
<br />basin from Glen Canyon
<br />Dam in accordance with
<br />the Colorado River
<br />Compact of 1922 and the
<br />Mexican Water Treaty.
<br />
<br />CRSP participating
<br />projects
<br />There are also 21 "partic-
<br />ipating projects" that have
<br />been authorized by
<br />Congress, with 17 complet.
<br />ed or nearly completed"
<br />Participating projects
<br />develop, or would develop,
<br />water in the upper
<br />Colorado River system for
<br />irrigation, municipal and
<br />industrial uses, and other
<br />purposes" These projects
<br />participate in the use of
<br />revenues from the Upper
<br />Colorado River Basin Fund
<br />to help repay the costs of
<br />irrigation features that are
<br />
<br />CRWUA
<br />
<br />beyond the ability of the
<br />water users to repay"
<br />More than 554,000 acre-
<br />feet of water is provided
<br />for irrigation with an
<br />annual gross crop value of
<br />more than $49 million.
<br />Also, more than 110 bil.
<br />lion gallons of water are
<br />provided annually to meet
<br />all or part of the needs of
<br />more than 1.2 million
<br />people"
<br />In addition to the par.
<br />ticipating projects, there
<br />are a number of older
<br />Reclamation projects dat-
<br />ing back to the turn of the
<br />century which provide
<br />water for local needs for
<br />people and farmlands in
<br />the upper basin states"
<br />Some, such as Fruitgrow.
<br />ers Dam, Grand Valley
<br />and the Uncompahgre
<br />Projects in Colorado, and
<br />the Strawberry Project in
<br />Utah, are among the old-
<br />est projects in the Bureau
<br />of Reclamation. In addi-
<br />tion, the Upper Colorado
<br />Region operates two Job
<br />Corps training centers,
<br />providing vocational and
<br />educational training to
<br />hundreds of young adults"
<br />
<br />Benefits
<br />Drought conditions
<br />were present in the late
<br />1980s and early 1990s
<br />throughout much of the
<br />Colorado River basin,
<br />causing generally lower.
<br />than-average inflows into
<br />the various reservoirs. In
<br />spite of those low inflows,
<br />storage of excess seasonal
<br />runoff in Reclamation
<br />facilities prevented down-
<br />stream floods"
<br />The generation of
<br />hydroelectric power by
<br />Reclamation facilities in
<br />the upper basin is impor-
<br />tant. Glen Canyon Dam
<br />powerplant is the third
<br />largest powerplant in the
<br />Reclamation system, trail-
<br />ing only Grand Coulee on
<br />
<br />the Columbia River and
<br />Hoover Dam further south
<br />on the Colorado. Glen
<br />Canyon Dam has a maxi.
<br />mum generation capacity
<br />of 1,356 megawatts" In
<br />addition, significant power.
<br />plants at Blue Mesa,
<br />Morrow Point and Crystal
<br />dams in Colorado on the
<br />Gunnison River.
<br />Fontenelle Dam in
<br />Wyoming and Flaming
<br />Gorge Dam in Utah, both
<br />on the Green River, con-
<br />tribute to meeting the'
<br />nation's energy require-
<br />ments.
<br />
<br />Lower Basin
<br />
<br />Introduction
<br />Lee Ferry, 16 miles
<br />downstream of Glen
<br />Canyon, was cited in the
<br />Colorado River Compact
<br />as the boundary between
<br />the upper and lower basins
<br />of the riveL The lower
<br />basin includes the last 688
<br />miles of the Colorado
<br />River in the United States,
<br />a reach of the river which
<br />flows in Arizona, southern
<br />Nevada and California.
<br />The Bureau of
<br />Reclamation serves as cus~
<br />todian of the lower basin
<br />of the Colorado River for
<br />the Secretary of the
<br />Interior who functions as
<br />watermasterin the lower
<br />river. While water in this
<br />portion of the river is not
<br />owned by the states or
<br />their users, rights appor-
<br />tioned by compacts and
<br />legislation spell out how
<br />much each state is entitled
<br />to receive when the water
<br />is available.
<br />
<br />Lower Basin Projects
<br />The Boulder Canyon
<br />Project, under which
<br />Hoover Dam and the All-
<br />American Canal were con-
<br />structed in 1935, tamed the
<br />Colorado River to the
<br />extent that development of
<br />smaller downstream pro-
<br />jects would be possible"
<br />With the river under con.
<br />trol, Parker Dam was com-
<br />pleted in 1938, providing
<br />for diversion of water into
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