WSP11307

• File Number: 8200.300.10.A
• Description: Colorado River Basin Legislation/Law - Interstate Water Transfers
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 12/1/1997
• Author: USDOI/BOR
• Title: Draft: Programmatic Environmental Assessment for Proposed Rule Making for Offstream Storage of Colorado River Water and Interstate Redemption of Storage Credits in the Lower Division States
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

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are available to meet the A WBA' s needs for the next ten years, and the inventory is to be
updated at least once every five years. The initial inventory completed in March 1997
with ADWR review found that storage facilities do not exist in the Tucson Active
Management Area (AMA) to meet the AWBA's needs. The AWBA found that storage
facilities exist in the Phoenix and Pinal AMAs to meet their needs. The AWBA found
that no storage facilities are necessary to meet their needs in areas of the State outside the
Phoenix, Pinal and Tucson AMAs, There are no storage facilities currently existing
outside the Phoenix, Pinal and Tucson AMAs capable of physically receiving and storing
CAP water, The Storage Facilities Inventory (Appendix B) provides a listing of existing
storage facilities sufficient to meet AWBA needs in Arizona (AWBA 1997);

. The A WBA has indicated that water stored pursuant to interstate banking agreements
would be stored in existing State pennitted facilities in which they have contracted
storage space, The Consuming State entity will be required to pay for the delivery and
storage of the water and could then recover credits attributable to 95% of the stored
water;

. Nevada has limited off stream storage capacity, The Las Vegas Valley Water District
began recharging Colorado River water in the Southern Nevada Groundwater Bank in
1987. Through 1996, approximately 110,000 afhad been recharged, with plans to
recharge at least a total of350,000 af. This water is used to meet the Southern Nevada
Water Authority purveyor's demands including summer peaking. Studies continue on
ground water recharge, Nevada has not identified any storage facilities that would be
used in interstate transactions and is unlikely to develop any for this purpose, Nevada
most likely would be a consuming State, At present, Nevada entities have not developed
provisions related to interstate transactions;

. In California, the Desert Water Agency (Desert) and the Coachella Valley Water District
(CVWD) entered into agreements with MWD to recharge the groundwater basin of the
upper Coacnella valley with Colorado River water, Under those agreements, MWD
exchanges Colorado River water for water available to Desert and CVWD from the
California State Water Project under those agencies' water delivery contracts with the
State of California. Those groundwater storage sites have the potential for use to store
water for interstate transactions, It is unknown if California entities will develop any
off stream storage facilities for use in interstate transactions. This analysis assumes that
California will be a consuming State; and

. MWD also has a program that involves contracting with its member agencies for
groundwater recovery, MWD's 1995 annual report lists the following projects: six
projects under contract with a projected ultimate yield of 18,039 afper year, three
projects under negotiation (at that time) with a projected ultimate yield of29,915 afper
year, and five additional projects under review with a projected ultimate yield of
33,800 af per year, Together, these groundwater recovery projects would yield 81,754 af
per year for MWD's use after full development of the required recharge/recovery

LC Region DEAl!

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12/97