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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />above identified terms are the essential provisions required to create an enforceable obligation <br />requiring Reclamation to honor its commitments. <br /> <br />Furthermore, Section 14 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (43 U.S.c. 389), is the <br />appropriate vehicle to execute the subordination which Congress anticipated would occur. This <br />section authorizes the Secretary of Interior "...for the purposes of orderly and economical <br />construction or operation and maintenance of any project, to enter into such contracts for the <br />exchange or replacement of water, water rights, or electric energy, or for the adjustment of water <br />rights, as in his judgement are necessary and in the interests of the United States and the project." <br /> <br />PROPOSED ACTION AND ALTERNATIVES <br /> <br />The proposed action is for the United States to execute an Agreement concerning the <br />Administration of Water Pursuant to the Subordination of Wayne N. Aspinall Unit Water Rights <br />within the Upper Gunnison River Basin (Agreement). A draft copy of this Agreement is <br />attached. The Agreement is not a water supply contract or sale; it does not provide water to <br />anyone; it formalizes past commitments and provides a plan on how to manage, track, record and <br />account for water depletions. <br /> <br />The alternative to the proposed action is the No Action alternative, which simply is not signing <br />the Agreement. Under the No Action alternative, Reclamation would have to develop some type <br />of system to track depletions to assure the 60,000 acre-foot allowance was not exceeded. This <br />system could involve individual contracts with water users. <br /> <br />The proposed Agreement provides for the following: <br /> <br />-the depletion allowance (up to 60,000 acre-feet) for the Aspinall Unit shall be implemented <br />only pursuant to the Agreement; <br />-the United States agrees to subordinate the Aspinall Unit's water rights up to 60,000 acre- <br />feet; by subordinating to the junior water rights in the basin, the United States agrees <br />that such in-basin water users may continue to divert when the United States places a <br />call on the Gunnison River under the Aspinall Unit's water rights; <br />-the depletions against which the United States foregoes its right to call under this <br />Agreement, shall be charged by the Colorado State Engineer against the annual fills <br />of Aspinall Unit reservoirs, and/or the exercise of the related direct flow hydropower <br />rights (depending on which of the Aspinall Unit rights are then being exercised); <br />-the CRWCD and the District shall monitor and quantify depletions under this Agreement; <br />-the Aspinall Unit reservoirs cannot be used in exchange or replacement of water or for any <br />other purpose, without the additional approval of the United States; and <br />-the utilizatio~l of water by the water users represented by the CRWCD and the District shall <br />be sul:ject to the laws of the State of Colorado regarding water use. <br /> <br />4 <br />