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WSP12531
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Last modified
1/26/2010 4:16:31 PM
Creation date
7/30/2007 10:52:19 AM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
Water Supply Protection
File Number
8282.400
Description
Colorado River Operations and Accounting - Deliveries to Mexico
State
CO
Basin
Colorado Mainstem
Water Division
5
Date
12/1/2001
Author
Good Neighbor Environmental Board
Title
Fifth Report of the Good Neighbor Environmental Board to the President and Congress of the United States - 12-01-01
Water Supply Pro - Doc Type
Report/Study
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<br />001482 <br /> <br />-= <br />~ <br /> <br />when the IBWC was furec:d to dredge a 20-fUot channd through the <br />400-foot sandbar. Within twO days, nanJral processes had opened <br />the channd to more than 100 feet in width, but this situation could <br />recur as drought and low-flow cOIlditions persist. <br />As in the case fur the Colorado Rivee, rc:duec:d Hows and escalat- <br />ing decnand for wacec thceaten the Rio Graride ecosystem, The <br />declining flows from .theMexican tdbutaries have raised questions <br />. . <br />concerning the delivecy by Mexico of water.; allocued to the Unirc:d <br />States from _ those streams. Mc:xico continues ~~. accumulare a water . <br />debt, a maCtet that was raised. to the levd .of the Presidents in <br />February 2001, and whieb tesulted in IBWC agreements. fur plans <br />fur Mexico to cover the watee debts. Mexico's diffieu1ry in making <br />full deliveries under those plans promprc:d Presidenrs Bush and Fox <br />to have a frank discussion on September 5, 2001 about waree <br />cesources and the imponance of Mexico living up to irs creat}. obliga- <br />. nons. . Resolution of chis issue ~ainshigh on the United SCltes' <br />agenda. Both presidents also recognized th.3.t greater cooperation can <br />lead to more effective warershed managecnenr and improved infra- <br />- structUre. They discussed formation of a joint advisory council. <br /> <br />.. Pollution:' PoUurio;' problems, exacer!r.ued by low fl~, <br />plague the Colorado Rivee and the. Rio Grande. . Dwnps, mit1e <br />w.lStes, municipal and industrial effiuent, irrigation rerum Bows, and <br />. other non-point runoff all Contribute varying contaminants that <br />have been 1inked to hUman and ecosysrem hcalth problems. In addi- <br />tion. especially in the Colorado River basin, the presence of salinity, <br />or total" dissolved solids. is a major concern.: ~ese warer "quality <br />problems affect the rivers' suitability for human consump~on, irriga. <br />tion and wildlife. <br /> <br />. Pathogens: It is no longec possible to assume that. even <br />creared public Wolter .supplies are completdy free of all. pathogens, <br />The suscepribility of a sOurce watet supply to contaminarion by <br />. waree-bome pathogens is dependent on many fucrors, including <br />physiography of the contributing warecshed, land use practices, . <br />wastewater tr~crnent meth~, and pathogen life~cles. This con~ <br />cern of global scope is especially rdeVant to tesidents in the border <br />region due to reports of inadequate sewage treatment and liinited <br />public watee-supply infrastructures. <br />Concerns about watet-bome pathogens are highlighrc:d by the <br />U.S. Environmental Protection Ageney's (EPA) Sumce Water <br />Treatment Rule, which requires suppliers that use rivers or reservoirs <br />. as a. water supply to adequatdy filter the Water for pathogens. <br />Similar concerns led to EPAS Information Collection Rule imple- <br />mented in 1996, whieb requires monitoring and data reporting from <br /> <br />I1llh Report of IIJe Good Neighbor Enlironmenlal Board <br /> <br />-."\ <br />. , <br /> <br />large public watee sysrems (greatee than 100,000 population served) <br />on water-borne agents. <br /> <br />· Non-Native Aquatic Vegetation: Incroduced <br />aquarie vegetatiOlt - hydriUa and watet hyacinth - are clogging die <br />main stem of the Rio Grande and hindering the operation of irriga_ <br />cion and drinldng water supply diversion strucnues in the Lower Rio <br />Grande Valley. These weeds Hourish in low-flow conditions and <br />have been diffia.dt to eradicate with mechanical means. They have <br />proliferated. in pan. because of ~~ concentrations of nutrients <br />from run-off. coupled with low flows from overuse. To aiable water <br />. to be delivecc:d to downscre3m users on both sides of the bordee, <br />. watee is being released from the Palcon &;"rvoir ro "push" the <br />clogged Rio Grande water through the vegetation. Othee species _ <br />grass cup and weevils - are being incroduec:dfur bilHnncrol of the <br />. weeds, but the long-term. ecosyscecn dl<ets of these species are <br />.: unclear. In some reaches of the Colorado River. diffi:rent aquatic <br />vegetation has appeared. The u.s. watet cesowa: agencies have <br />teamed th~ir efforts to prevent' irs spread to the borda. Mexico's <br />water resource agencies have p~cipated in conuo) and prevention <br />. dlOns for both rivee syscecns. <br /> <br />. Groundwater Depletion: Ovecuse of ~undwater <br />supplies in the Santa Cruz River and San Pedro River basins is a <br />major concern ~use of the C2pi~ growth C2tes in the urban areas in . <br />those basins. Increased groundwater withdrawals from the Tucson <br />basin in Arizona ha~ resulted in increased well pumping costs, <br />rc:dltec:d gro.mdwatet quality, decreased well capacities, and land <br />subsidence. As groundwater withdrawals exoeed nacural recharge, <br />increasing volumes of surf.a.ce water from the S:uua C~ and San <br />Pedro Rivc:rs ace drawn into the aquifer. affecting river flow. and in <br />turn, the riparian habitat in those streams. <br />, In Texas and Chihuahua, the Fl Paso/Juarez joint planning <br />eff~rts are based on viewing the Hueco ground~ter basin as a finite <br />water supply. . Conservarion measures are being undertaken and <br />altetnarive sources are being explocc:d, including desalination and <br />increased use of treated river water. <br /> <br />PROJECTS AND PARTNERSHIPS <br /> <br />Some ~rder region programs. to protectwate:r resources have: <br />. existed for a decade or ~ore. For instance. the Colorado River Basin <br />Salinity Concrol ForUm was organiaed in 1974 by rhe seven <br />Colorado River basin states. Another ~ple is the Western Water <br />Policy Review Advisory Commission, initially established by formee <br />President George Bush in 1992. The Commission outlined western <br /> <br />14 <br />
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