BOARD00166 ‎(3)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 5/22/2007
• Description: OWCDP Section - Colorado Foundation for Water Education FY08 Program Scope of Work
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board

Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
www.cwcb.state.co.us

MEMORANDUM

Bill Ritter, Jr.
Governor

TO:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

Harris D. Sherman
Executive Director

FROM:

Randy Seaholm, Chief Water Supply Protection
Ted Kowalski

Rod Kuharich
CWCB Director

DATE:

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

May 14,2007

SUBJECT: Agenda Item 8, May 2-23, 2007 Board Meeting:
Water Supply Protection - Colorado River 7-State Agreements and
DEIS Updates

Backeround

As you are all aware, in response to the "Draft Environmental hnpact Statement
for Colorado River Reservoir Operations: Development of Lower Basin Shortage
Guidelines and Coordinated Management Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake
Mead Under Low Reservoir Conditions" (the "DEIS") released by the Bureau of
Reclamation (the "Bureau") on February 28,2007, the 7-Colorado River Basin
States submitted, on April 30, 2007, a 7-State Agreement concerning the
Colorado River Management and a proposed set of Interim Guidelines for
Colorado River Operations ("Interim Guidelines" or "Guidelines"). The States
recognized that additional agreements were necessary including: a Forbearance
Agreement, an Arizona-Nevada Shortage Sharing Agreement and a yet to be
completed Water Delivery Agreement. These documents are attached hereto for
reference.

The purpose of this memorandum is in no way an attempt to paraphrase any of the
documents in the 7-State submittal. The intent is simply to identify important
aspects ofthe agreements from Colorado's perspective in terms of benefits,
limitations and tradeoffs.