The Secretary of the Interior - Washington - CO River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead

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Interim Guidelines for the Operation of Lake Powell and Lake Mead 1999). This approach was carried through and set forth in the ROD for the ISG adopted by the Secretary. See 66 Fed. Reg. 7772, 7780 at Section XI(5) ("These Guidelines, which shall implement and be used for determinations made pursuant to Article III(3)(b) of the [Operating Criteria] ... are hereby adopted ... "). See also discussion at 70 Fed. Reg. 15878 (March 29, 2005) (review of LROC). It is the Department's decision in adopting these Guidelines to continue the approach initially adopted in the ISG, and accordingly is not modifying the LROC at this time. Instead, the determinations made under these interim Guidelines will implement the relevant provisions of Article II (Lake Powell) and Article III (Lake Mead) during the Interim Period, as defined in Section 7, herein. C. Annual Operating Plan for Colorado River Reservoirs Section 602(b) of the CRBPA of 1968 requires that the Secretary transmit to the Congress and to the Governors of the Basin States, by January 1st of each year, a report describing the actual operation under the LROC for the preceding compact water year and the projected operation for the current year. This report is commonly referred to as the "Annual Operating Plan" or the "AOP." In 1992, in the Grand Canyon Protection Act, Congress required that, in preparing the 602(b) AOP, the Secretary shall consult with the Governors of the Basin States and with the general public, including representatives of academic and scientific communities, environmental organizations, the recreation industry; and contractors for the purpose of federal power produced at Glen Canyon Dam. Each year the Secretary implements the provisions of the 1968 and 1992 statutes regarding the projected operation of Colorado River reservoirs and stakeholder consultation through the Colorado River Management Work Group. This process involves appropriate consultation prior to finalization of the proposed AOP. The AOP is used to memorialize operational decisions that are made pursuant to individual federal actions (e.g., ISG, 1996 Glen Canyon Dam ROD, this ROD). Thus, the AOP serves as a single, integrated reference document required by section 602(b) of the CRBPA of 1968 regarding past and anticipated operations. It is the Department's decision that these Guidelines be implemented on an annual basis through the Interim Period and documented in each year's AOP. This ROD addresses annual volumes of releases from Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam. Accordingly, this ROD does not modify the authority of the Secretary to determine monthly, daily, hourly, or instantaneous releases from Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam. See Section 7 of the Guidelines for further description of the relationship between the AOP and these Guidelines. ROD -Colorado River Interim Guidelines for December 2007 Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated 23 Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead