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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Verde Irrigation District (PVID), the Yuma Project Reservation Division (YPRD), the Imperial <br />Irrigation District (lID), and the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD). Figure I, found at the <br />end of this report, depicts the forecast of end-of-year agricultural use for the year. <br /> <br />Colorado River Ooerations <br /> <br />On May 15th, I, along with representatives from the other Basin States, attended the first of <br />three consultation meetings with Reclamation in Las Vegas, Nevada, to review the draft 1999 <br />Annual Operating Plan for the Colorado River Reservoir System (1999 AOP). As indicated at <br />previous Board meetings, Reclamation has recommended that the River System be operated under <br />a surplus condition during 1999, that is all mainstream beneficial consumptive use needs will be <br />satisfied and Mexico will be allowed to schedule the delivery of 1.7 maf during 1999. During the <br />May 15th meeting, no concerns were raised by those in attendance regarding such surplus <br />determinations, as there is a high probability of flood control releases being required in 1999. <br />Comments on the draft 1999 AOP are due on June 19, 1998. It is suggested that the Board support <br />Reclamation's proposed determinations regarding the 1999 AOP. <br /> <br />Regarding the schedule for completing the 1999 AOP, a meeting will be held on June 30th, <br />to review the comments received on the draft AOP and to finalize it. A final consultation meeting <br />between representatives of the Colorado River Basin states and the Department of the Interior will <br />be held on August 4, 1998, to complete the recommended 1999 AOP. This year, Reclamation has <br />proposed delaying actual publication of the 1999 AOP until late October to allow the text of the Plan <br />to reflect the actUal end of the water year reservoir conditions rather than estimated conditions, as <br />was the practice in past years. This will allow Reclamation to also use this document as its annual <br />report to Congress, which is required by the 1968 Colorado River Project Act. This new process will <br />negate the need for Reclamation to prepare two separate reports. <br /> <br />Included in the Board folder for your information is a letter from Reclamation, dated May <br />2l~, announcing that the generating unit at Senator Wash Dam and Reservoir would be out-of- <br />service, from May 26" to June 10"', for repair to the interior penstock lining that had been applied <br />last year. <br /> <br />As reported at last month's Board meeting, Reclamation held an informational meeting in <br />Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 15th to discuss the objectives of its Lower Colorado River Accounting <br />Systelfl (LCRAS). At that meeting, Reclamation discussed it:; intcnt to have full implemention of <br />LCRAS in the year 2000; indicated that it intended to form a technical committee to review all <br />aspects of LCRAS; will have a WEB page that will provide infonnation on LCRAS; and intends to <br />hold two two-day technical committee meetings. Also, at the meeting, Reclamation indicated its <br />desire to have remote sensing, water accounting, and evapo-transpiration (ET) expertise on the <br />technical committee. The first technical committee meeting will be held on June 24th and 25th in <br />Henderson, Nevada. This first meeting will provide the attendees an opportunity to gain an <br />understanding of how LCRAS works, examine the data and assumptions used, identify weaknesses <br />and strengths, and provide input to improve LCRAS and future LCRAS reports. At this time, a <br />number of people have reservations about using LCRAS as the method for Article V Decree <br />Accounting. <br /> <br />2 <br />