20a

• Board Meeting Date: 1/15/2008
• Description: WSP Section - Colorado River - Operations Overview
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Agenda Item 20a
January 22-23, 2008
Page 2 of 2
• Nevada, in addition to its existing compact apportionment, gets an interim source of water
(75,000 AF annually by 2020) that they have an immediate need for. This delays the fight
over how to account for water development on the tributaries.
• The revised plan of operation for lakes Powell and Mead under low reservoir conditions will
lessen the possibility of curtailments in the Upper Basin, but it will not remove the risk
totally.
• The terms contained in the ROD will result in the protection of power operations at Glen
Canyon as long as possible under extreme drought circumstances.
• The Guidelines will allow annual releases from Lake Powell to go as low as 7.48 MAF under
certain circumstances, potentially for extended periods. Consistent with the law, the Upper
Basin gets further acknowledgment that releases from Lake Powell can be less than 8.23
MAF which the current Long Range Operating Criteria call for.
• The conjunctive use of Powell and Mead will tend, under surplus and average conditions, to
send more water to Mead and reduce the severity of shortages in the lower basin.
• The Lower Basin would achieve a framework for implementing system efficiencies and
developing augmentation supplies, rather than focusing solely on unused apportionment in
the Upper Basin.
Colorado's entire negotiating team should be congratulated for their work in helping to achieve
this historic agreement. The team consisted of Scott Balcomb in his capacity as Colorado's
representative to the Upper Colorado River Commission, Jim Lochhead in his capacity as the
representative for Colorado's coalition of major water users, Randy Seaholm and Ted Kowalski
of the CWCB staff, and John Cyran and Karen Kwon with the Colorado Attorney Generals
office.