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<br />001582 <br /> <br />938 <br /> <br />ECOLOGY lAW QUARTERLY <br /> <br />[Vol. 28:903 <br /> <br />creation of the Bank has placed enormous pressure on California <br />to scale back its diversions from the Colorado River. <br /> <br />B. Interstate Water Banking <br /> <br />In November 1999, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOl) <br />issued regulations implementing interstate water banking on the <br />Lower Colorado.231 The final rules create a procedural framework <br />_ operating within the limits of the existing. Law of the River32 - <br />whereby the Secretary of the Interior can administer Storage and <br />Interstate Release Agreements (SIRAs) among the Lower Basin <br />states.233 Under the rules, a banking customer empowered by <br />state law234 can develop "intentionally created unused <br />apportionment" (ICUA)235 and store it in another Lower Basin <br />state (e.g., in the Arizona Water Bank).236 The Bank can then <br />release the stored water by developing ICUA to be returned to the <br />party who banked it.237 ICUA can also be released on credit, in <br />anticipation of an equal amount of subsequent storage in the <br />same year.238 <br />With state authorization, banked ICUA can also be sold, 239 <br />as long as all parties to the agreement approve. 240 Whether these <br />regulations alter the Law of the River41 depends on the <br /> <br />k <br />L <br /> <br />231. See generally Offstream Storage of Colorado River Water and Development <br />and Release of Intentionally Created Unused Apportionment in the Lower Division <br />States, 43 C.F.R. ~ 414 (1999) [hereinafter Off stream Storage of Colorado Water <br />Statute). <br />232. See id. ~ 414. I (b)(3). <br />233. See id. ~ 414.1(a)(3). <br />234. See id. ~ 414.2(2). <br />235. See id. ~ 414. I (a)(2). <br />236. In July 2001, the Arizona Water Banking Authority (AWBA), the Southern <br />Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) and the Colorado River Commission of Nevada <br />entered into an agreement for interstate water banking that contemplates SNWA <br />obtaining long -term storage credits of 1.2 maf of water stored by the A WBA. See Art. <br />1.2.4, Agreement for Interstate Water Banking among the Arizona Water Banking <br />Authority and the Southem Nevada Water Authority and the Colorado River <br />Commission of Nevada (July 3, 2001). <br />237. See Off stream Storage of Colorado Water Statute, supra note 231. ~ <br />414.3(a)(8)-( 1 0). <br />238. See id. ~ 414.3(1). While methods for developing ICUA are not specifically <br />defined, the rules require that methods be defined in the SIRA and be subject to <br />verification and approval by the Secretary. See id. ~ 414.3(a)(10),(11), (14), and (15). <br />239. See id. ~ 414.3(a)(18)(d). <br />240. See id. <br />241. Tribal water rights are not directly addressed by the rule; while the DOl <br />states that it is "encouraging the Lower Division States to enact measures and take <br />actions that will allow the tribes to participate," they can only do so with state law <br />authorization. See Final Rule, Offstream Storage of Colorado River Water and <br />Development and Release of Intentionally Created Unused Apportionment in the <br />