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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />OOOlU5 <br /> <br />Although CAP water deliveries would facilitate meeting the goals of the Act, this was not a <br />specific purpose of the allocations, Instead, the use of CAP allocations to achieve ground-water <br />management goals was left to Arizona's discretion in its recommendations of allocations to the <br />non-Indian sector. The provision of CAP water is inherent in the State's plan to balance the <br />basins for three of the AMA's, <br /> <br />The actions and transactions contemplated in the Rule are within the current authority of the <br />Secretary pursuant to the BCP A, the Decree, and other applicable laws and executive orders. <br />Approved programs for off stream storage of Colorado River water have taken place on a limited <br />basis, A CEC (LC-93-9) was completed by Reclamation on April 9, 1993 for approval ofa <br />Demonstration Underground Storage Project (indirect recharge) between The Metropolitan <br />Water District of Southern California (MWD) and the Central Arizona Water ConselVation <br />District (CAWCD). The Colorado River Commission of Nevada also participated in this three- <br />year project. The Project was amended to increase the volume of water to be stored and NEPA <br />documentation was accomplished by a CEC (LC-95-10) dated March 30, 1995, <br /> <br />Project and site specific NEP A, ESA, and related compliance has been completed by Reclamation <br />throughout the Lower Division States for the CAP, Lower Colorado River (LCR) operations and <br />maintenance, and the Southern Nevada Water System (SNWS), This compliance addresses <br />environmental effects and provides appropriate mitigation for the mainstream Colorado, CAP, and <br />SNWS facilities that may be used under the Rule, A list of compliance documents is provided in <br />Appendix A <br /> <br />F. Related Non-Reclamation Actions <br /> <br />In 1996, the State of Arizona amended its Act and created the Arizona Water Banking Authority <br />(lIB 2494), The Act among other things empowers the A WBA to store Colorado River water <br />brought into the State by the CAP to fulfill the water management objectives of the State under <br />the Act, The A WBA is expressly authorized to provide the opportunity to authorized agencies in <br />the States of California and Nevada to store otherwise unused Colorado River water in Arizona to <br />assist those States in meeting future water needs (ARS 45-2401 F.5). However, the revised Act <br />precludes A WBA from entering into agreements with entities in California and Nevada for storage <br />of water on their behalfuntiJ the Secretary adopts a rule in support of the interstate component of <br />the Arizona program and the rule is found to be acceptable to the Director of the Arizona <br />Department of Water Resources (ADWR), The Act and this Rule would facilitate and allow the <br />contractual distribution of unused apportionment under Article ll(B)(6) of the Decree (ARS 45- <br />2427 C. I). <br /> <br />The Rule will facilitate the interstate component of the AWBA program, In the future, other <br />Lower Division States may enact comparable measures, <br /> <br />5 <br />