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<br /> <br />" <br /> <br />, . The Honorable Gale Norton <br /> <br />Page I of7 <br /> <br />The Honorable Gale Norton <br />Secretary of the Interior <br />Speech to the Colorado River Water Users Association <br />Las Vegas, Nevada <br />December 16,2002 <br /> <br />It is a pleasure to be with all of you who share a common commitment to the future of the Colorado River. <br /> <br />I am joined today by Assistant Secretary Bennett Raley and Commissioner John Keys. I rely on Bennett and John <br />to carry out the Department~s responsibilities with respect to the waters of the Colorado River. They have my <br />full faith and confidence. <br /> <br />Meeting here in Las Vegas, the city of gaming, the thought comes to mind that we have been involved in a high- <br />stakes poker game on the issue that is on everyone~s mind, and that is the California 4.4 Plan. <br /> <br />The stakes are high, and each party is studying their hand. The drama is building. If this were a game, it would <br />be time to lay our cards on the table and demonstrate that the Department of the Interior has not been bluffing. <br />However, this is not a game, it is serious business. But I will lay our cards on the table here this morning. <br /> <br />Our common future is shaped by record drought and population growth within the Basin. These factors herald a <br />new era of limits on Colorado River water use. These limits are shaping the decisions that will guide the future <br />course of river management. <br /> <br />While increasing water demand is causing change, what must not change is our commitment to honor compacts, <br />decrees and agreements. Otherwise the legal foundation upon which this river is administered will be at risk. <br /> <br />We are at a turning point in the history of the Colorado River. <br /> <br />For the first time, a Secretary ofthe Interior faces the need to enforce the limits confirmed by the U.S. Supreme <br />Court in the historic Arizona v. California litigation. <br /> <br />The issue is not whether but when California will live within its apportionment of 4.4 million acre-feet of water. <br /> <br />It is important that not just you attending this conference, but that all who live in the seven Colorado River Basin <br />states, understand how we arrived at this critical point in shaping the future of Colorado River policy. <br /> <br />In 1929, California agreed to limit its annual use of water from the Colorado River to 4.4 million acre-feet. Yet <br />over the years, California has grown accustomed to using more than 5 million acre-feet of water per year. <br /> <br />Two factors made this additional water available. Other states were not using their full apportionments and, <br />second, reservoirs were generally full and surplus water was available. <br /> <br />That has changed. <br /> <br />The basin is experiencing one of the most significant drought cycles in modem history. This year produced the <br />lowest Colorado River flow on record, at just 25% of the 30-year-average flow. <br /> <br />Total natural runoff in the Colorado River Basin during 2002 water year is estimated at 7 million acre-feet. To <br />put this in context, total demands for Colorado River water, including losses, over this same period was <br />approximately 152 million acre-feet. These demands were met by reducing storage in the Basin by more than 82 <br />million acre-feet in this period. <br /> <br />In 2002 California will use approximately 5.2 million acre feet - which means that California could be seen as <br />using 75% of the water that the Basin produced. <br /> <br />http://www.doi.gov/news/nortonl.html <br /> <br />12/16/2003 <br />