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<br />(-' 1') "" ,'" ~ 2 <br />OUJ..l)~ <br /> <br />968 <br /> <br />ECOLOGY lA W QUARTERLY <br /> <br />[Vol. 28:903 <br /> <br />agricultural land would be, purchased from willing sellers, <br />producing approximate 15,000 af per year that could be <br />dedicated to Delta restoration,390 CNA would then be requested to <br />deliver this retired water and any unused over-deliveries to lands <br />targeted for restoration under the proposal.391 <br />MCE has significantly revised its second alternative. Under <br />the revised version, MCE would construct a canal connecting the <br />Wellton-Mohawk bypass drain (the MODE canal) to the existing <br />Plan Ayala drain in Mexico.392 Brackish drainage water from <br />irrigation districts near Yuma would be routed through the <br />Wellton-Mohawk drain, across the connector. and down the Plan <br />Ayala drain to a low-lying, marshy area of irrigated lands that <br />CNA has targeted for retirement.393 This area, lying east, of the <br />Colorado fRio Hardy confluence, and sligbtly to the north and <br />west of the Cienega de, Santa Clara" abuts existing Delta <br />wetlands; the flooding that would occur following the retirement <br />of the lands and the re-routing of Yuma drain water would allow <br />for the restoration of significant amounts of wetland habitat. 394 <br />However, at least 30,000 af of the drain water that would be <br />used in this alternative is water that is currently used to meet <br />the 1.5 maf U.S. treaty obligation to Mexico.395 Consequently, <br />additional releases of water from Lake Mead would be required. <br />Although this would offer the added benefit of decreasing salinity <br />levels in the river by increasing overall flows south of Lake Mead <br /> <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />390. Id at 23. The first alternative additionally provides that this water could be <br />combined with "operational over-deliveries" from U:S. Colorado River operations. Id. <br />Operational over-deliveries result from the fact that there is an inherent delay <br />between the time that a Lower Colorado water user must request the release of water <br />from Lake Mead (at Hoover Dam), and the time that this water actually arrives at the <br />user's point of diversion. Users must thus predict what their water needs will be in <br />advance; occasionally, by the time water is released from the dam and travels <br />downstream to the point of diversion, it is no longer needed or cannot be diverted, <br />and thus flows on downstream unused unless another user wilL absorb it. These <br />"over-deliveries" are generally not credited against the U.S. li"eaty obligation to <br />Mexico, and thus are in addition tothe 1.5 maf that the U.s. is legally obligated to <br />deliver. See id at 25. Operational over-deliveries are expected to average around <br />30,000 af per year, and frequently cannot be absorbed by Mexican agricultural users. <br />Id at 23. As the MCE report recognizes, however. operational over-deliveries do not <br />represent a particularly secure source of water for the Delta, as they can frequently <br />be absorbed by irrigators in Mexico. See id In fact, the U.S. plans to reduce or <br />eliminate these over-deliveries as a part of the canal-lining program along the All- <br />American Canal. See id. <br />391. Id. at 23-24. <br />392. Id. at 24. <br />393. Id. <br />394. Id <br />395. The remainder is derived from groundwater pumping in the 242 Well Field <br />near Yuma; this pumping would also be increased under the proposal. Id at 25. <br />