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<br />> <br />;, ~ il ' <br />, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />DRAFT - 11/21/2006 <br /> <br />Comments on Draft Navajo-Gallup Pipeline Bill <br /> <br />General Comments <br /> <br />. The bill is premised on a draft EIS and draft hydrologic determination, neither of <br />which has yet been accepted by the Secretary of the Interior. This is not a good <br />precedent, particularly when the Lower Basin States have expressed concern <br />about the draft hydrologic determination. <br /> <br />. The bill leaves many unanswered questions about Colorado River accounting, <br />water delivery contracting and priority of deliveries. The specific comments <br />below attempt to clarify many of these issues. <br /> <br />Specific Comments <br /> <br />1. <br /> <br />Priority within the San Juan River system. The priority of the Navajo-Gallup <br />pipeline water within the San Juan River system is not clear. Section 1 02(b) of <br />the bill provides that the Secretary shall "allocate the shortage" to the Navajo <br />Reservoir water supply, with first priority going to the water for the Navajo- <br />Gallup pipeline. This seems to say that the water for the pipeline is the first to be <br />shorted. But this section ofthe bill is amending ~ 11 of Pub. L. 87-483, which <br />directs the Secretary to apportion the water that is available during shortage on the <br />San Juan, suggesting that the pipeline might be first to receive available water <br />during a shortage. The bill should be revised to clearly express the intended <br />result. <br /> <br />2. Colorado River Compact Issues. Section 103 ofthe bill states that it does not <br />amend the Law ofthe River "unless expressly provided in this Act." There is <br />nothing in the bill that would expressly amend the 1922 Colorado River Compact. <br />Accordingly, there is nothing in the bill that would: <br /> <br />. Allow the diversion of water in the Upper Basin for use in the Lower <br />Basin. <br />. Relieve the Upper Basin from any part of its Compact obligation to deliver <br />75 million acre-feet to the Lower Basin every 10 years. <br /> <br />To address these problems, the following should be added to the end of ~303 of <br />the bill: <br /> <br />"(h) COLORADO RIVER COMPACT. Notwithstanding any other <br />provision oflaw, water may be diverted from the San Juan River in New <br />Mexico for use within the Lower Basin, as that term is used in the 1922 <br />Colorado River Compact, either in New Mexico or on the Navajo <br />Reservation in Arizona. Water diverted from the San Juan River and <br />delivered for use on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona shall be deemed to <br />