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< Mr. Travis Smith, Superintendent October 16, 2003 Page 5 . constructed after 1929 to the amount of the accrued debits of Colorado and New Mexico, respectively, and such releases shall be made by each at the greatest rate practicable under the conditions then prevailing, and in proportion to the total debit of each, and in amounts, limited by their accrued debits, sufficient to bring the quantity of usable water in Project Storage to 600,000 acre feet by March first and to maintain this quantity in storage until April thirtieth, to the end that a normal release of 790,000 acre~feet may be made from Project Storage in that year. . The limitations in the Tres Rios decree il") Case No: 91 CW29 would also appear to apply , and be even more restrictive than the compact provisions listed above. This decree found that water would be available for the Tres Rios post-compact water rights only in years when either (1) Elephant Butte Reservoir has spilled or, in the judgment of Colorado's Commissioner on the Rio Grande Compact Commission, is certain to spill or (2) Colorado has obtained or, in the judgment of Colorado's Commissioner on the Rio Grande Compact Commission, is certain to obtain an annual credit in excess of 150,000 acre-feet. Any such diversions must also be in priority with respect to other water rights in Colorado. No diversions may be made at any other time in the absence of a plan for augmentation approved in the manner required by law. WATER AVAILABLE UNDER A POST-COMPACT WATER STORAGE RIGHT Under the Tres Rios criteria, water would have been available for storage in the reservoir enlargement in 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1995. These were years when Project Storage spilled. There were no years during 1946-2002 when Colorado achieved an annual credit of 150,000 acre-feet. The water that would have been available for storage in the reservoir enlargement in these years was estimated from daily records for the flow at the Del Norte gaging station as the portions of the flow that exceeded the demands of the downstream ditches, but limited to the outflow from Rio Grande Reservoir. The demands of the downstream ditches were taken as . Period April 1-15 April 16-30 May June Demand (cfs) 800 1,700 3,800 4,900