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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January 23-24, 2007 Board Meeting
Agenda Item 17
Page 3 of6

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shortage when curtailment is being experienced in the Upper Basin (which
may not be in Colorado's best interests). The Agreement expressly
provides that are conditions, other than shortages in the mainstem ofthe
Lower Colorado River, which may trigger the 1944 Treaty's extraordinary
drought provision.
a. The States did not reach consensus about how Lower Basin
tributaries will be considered, with regard to deliveries to Mexico,
for which the Upper Basin has some obligation if deliveries are
deficient.
Lower Basin Augmentation and Conservation:
1. Encourages augmentation ofthe Colorado River System as a whole
thereby helping to alleviate drought impacts and development constraints
on the existing supplies.
2. Encourages the Lower Division to look elsewhere, besides the Upper
Basin, to sustain existing and future development
3. Encourages the Lower Division to become more efficient in diversion
and use of existing supplies.
4. Allows for more flexible management of Lower Basin supplies during
the interim period.
5. Provides opportunities to raise water surface elevations in Lake Mead,
thereby reducing demand for equalization releases from Lake Powell, and,
thus, reducing risk of future Upper Basin curtailment
6. Implements an Intentionally Created Surplus ("ICS") program
premised on forbearance and delivery agreements among Lower Division
States the development of which was done without input or participation
of Upper Division.
7. Assures that any increases in the water supply resulting from weather
modification will be considered augmentation of Colorado River System
as a whole and would not be assignable to any entity.
8. Includes provisions in the interim guidelines that limit the impacts to
Colorado:
a. Limitations were placed on how much ICS could be stored
in, and released from, Lake Mead under shortage, normal and
surplus conditions. ICS helps keep Mead higher reducing
equalization amounts while at the same time helping to minimize
Lower Basin shortages and protect the Las Vegas intakes in Lake
Mead.
b. Given that the forbearance and delivery agreements could
exclude Upper Basin input on the ICS program entirely, the Upper
Division required the Agreement/Guidelines to expressly provide
for Upper Basin consultation on creation ofICS projects, as well as
providing open access of ICS accounting records.
c. Creation and release of tributary ICS was limited to
tributaries upstream of Hoover Dam to avoid the tributary
arguments and still provide some benefits during the interim

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