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4 UDENWLR 290 4 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 290 (Cite as: 4 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 290) Page 12 ~f.AtheCentral Arizona Projec~~llt,at a h~lJ:vyprice to Arizona. The 1968 Act gave first priority in the Lower Basin to California, ~'q1itiring the .Secretary of the Interior, in administrating any shortages among the Lower Division States, to limit diversions from the Colorado River for the Central Ari~n:a;j?l'Oject to assure the availability of a total of 4.4 m.a.f. of ,mainstream water for use in California. (FN991 lili~~'Xc'hafige for authorization of the Central Arizona Project, the 1968 Act directed the Secretary "to proceed as nearly as practicable with the construction" of certain participating projects authorized Under the 1956 Colorado River Storage Project Act, rFNI001 thus the construction would not start later than the date of the first delivery of water from the Central ArizonaProject. rFN 1 0 11 Although the Central Arizona Project is now on line, the government did not build these participating projects. rFNI021 *314 Finally, the 1968 Act gave several directives to the Secretary for the coordinated operation of several federal reservoirs on the Colorado River. The 196~Act directs the Secretary to prepare a "consumptive uses and losses rep0l1i" every five years, which accounts for beneficial consumptive uses on a state-by-state basis. [FN1031 The 1968 Act also requires the Secretary to propose oIiteria for the coordinated long-range operation of specified federal reservoirs in both the Upper and Lower 'Hasins (principally Lakes Mead and Powell), to review those criteria every five years, and to report annually on the actual operations under the criteria for the preceding year and the projected operation for the upcoming year. [FN1041 This latter report is known as the "Aoouai Op6rating Plan," With respect to Upper Basin reservoirs, the 1968 Act _-ots"the Secretary, through the criteria, to store water in storage units ofthe Colorado River Storage Project [FNI05]and release water from Lake Powell in furtherance of the Upper Basin's obligations under the Compact. [FNI061 First, if the deficiency is chargeable to the Upper Basin, the Secretary releases water from Lake Powell to supply one-half of any deficiency in delivery to Mexico under Article I1I(c) of the Compact. [FN1071 ~e<>nd, the Secretary releases water from Lake Powell in order to meet the Upper Basin delivery requirement set forth in Article III(d) of the Compao~75 m.a.f. every ten years. [FN108] Third, the Seoc-etary determines annually if the amount of water in storage units of the Colorado River Storage Project is less than or more than what is necessary to meet the above-referenced deliv6&y.obligations, without impairing consumptive uses in the Upper BaS'lff'\'inder the CompactE4ri other . words, without potentially subjecting the Upper Basin to a "Compact Call." [FNI091 The government refers to this amount r as;i&e2(a)"st(ll'll'g6;" (FNl101 The Secretary releases any amount of water in excess of 602(a) storage from Lake Powell for the following purposes: (1) to the extent it can be reasonably applied to beneficial use in the Lower Basin; [FNllll (2) to maintain, as nearly as practicable, an equal amount of storage in Lakes Mead and Powell; rFN1121 and (3) to avoid spills from-Lake Powell. rFNI131 In 1970, pursuant to the 1968 Act, the Secretary promulgated the *315 Criteria for Coordinated Long-Range Operation of Colorado River Reservoirs ("Operating Criteria"). [FN1141 The Operating Criteria address the units of the Colorado River Storage Project in the Upper Basin, and Lake Mead in the Lower Basin. In broad outline, the Operating Criteria require the Secretary to make several determinations in the Annual Operating Plan to guide operations of system reservoirs for the upcoming year. In the Upper Basin, the important determinations relate to the amount of water that the Secretary will store in and release from Lake Powell in that year, under the requirements established in Section 602(a) of the 1968 Act. For the most part, the Operating Criteria simply repeat the mandates of Section.,602(a). In one area, the Operating Criteria expand upon those requirements. The Operating Criteria provide that ifthe forecasted amount of storage in the Upper Basin is less than 602(a) storage, or if the storage forecast for Lake Powell is less than Lake Mead, the Secretary will maintain an "objective" to release a minimum of 8.23 m.a.f. in the upcoming year. rFN1151 The government arrived at this amount ostensibly by taking the average Upper Basin Compact delivery requirement of 7.5 m.a.f., subtracting tributary inflows below Glen Canyon Dam and above Lee Ferry (about 20,000 acre-feet), and adding one-half of the United States' delivery obligations under the 1944 Mexican Treaty (750,000 acre-feet). This calculation is obviously a matter of convenience, pending greater development in the Upper Basin, i~Q,t.,.,ap interpretation of the Compa~,and has no basis in the law, for two reasons. .6rst, the only obligation of the Upper Division States under Article III( d) of the Compact is to assure that they do not deplete the flow of the Colorado River at Lee Ferry below 75 m.a.f. every ten years, on a running average. [FN1l61 This obligation imposes no burden or limitation on the Upper Basin to make any minimum delivery in anyone year (except possibly at the end of a ten-year sequence) and the Q)peIiating Criteria cannot override the Compact. Second, the .{%pp6r Division States disagree that they have any obligation to contribute half of the Mexican Treaty delivery. [FN 1171 Therefore, the Upper Division States have objected to any assertion by the Secretary that an actual annual minimum release from Lake Powell may be enforced. They assert that the 8.23 m.a.f. release is, as stated in the Criteria, an "objective" that must be overridden by the terms of the Compact and the ultimate @2006 Thomson/West. No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works.