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<br />001979 <br /> <br />The NWL allows changes in water use for water rights issued under the <br />concession, system with the prior approval of CNA. Although changes in water use <br />have generally been approved for urban and industrial uses, according to various <br />CNA officials, no prior experience exists for approving changes in water use to an <br />ecological conservation use either in Mexicali or nationally. Although District 014 has <br />regularly authorized changes of water rights classified as agricultural use to other <br />uses, CNA confirmed that it has not been requested to approve changing agricultural <br />water use to ecological conservation use. Officials state, however, that they would <br />issue such an authorization, if provided with sufficient data to support the change. <br /> <br />CONCLUSION <br /> <br />Due to the intricate legal framework used on the Colorado River, reaching a <br />long-term management strategy for the Delta will be time-consuming and may take <br />many years. In the interim, the Delta habitat may suffer. Therefore, it may be <br />desirable to identify mechanisms for bringing water to the Delta that are immediate <br />and consistent with the Law of the"River. <br /> <br />Based upon the legal research that has been conducted, it appears that near <br />term purchase of agricultural water rights in Mexico and the change of use of that <br />water to ecological purposes are legally viable. It also appears that near term delivery <br />to the Delta of brackish agricultural drainage water from the Yuma area could be <br />accomplished using the legal mechanisms that were adopted under Minute 242. It <br />will be up to the United States and Mexico and the various stakeholders in both <br />countries to determine the immediate and long-term Delta water supply actions that <br />are justified and appropriate <br /> <br />, The last century of evolution in the Colorado River Delta is a story of laws and <br />leaders with vision. It is a story of changing societal value. And it is a story of an <br />ecological resource that will always be changing. But most of all, it is a story of how <br />the society that is being watered by the Colorado River can join together. Together, <br />to manage an ecosystem that can become a managed jewel sustaining a vibrant <br />natural ecology, existing in concert with the great human society that has prospered, <br />largely at the Delta's expense. <br />