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Interim Guidelines for the <br />Operation of Lake Powell <br />and Lake Mead <br />Consolidated Decree and do not infringe on the rights of third parties. Surplus <br />water will only be delivered to entities with contracts for surplus water. ICS <br />will be delivered pursuant to Section 3.C. of these Guidelines and a Delivery <br />Agreement. <br />B. Delivery Agreement <br />Article II(B)(5) of the Consolidated Decree in A~•izona v. California states that <br />mainstream Colorado River water shall be released or delivered to water users in <br />Arizona, California, and Nevada "only pursuant to valid contracts therefore made <br />with such users by the Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to Section 5 of the Boulder <br />Canyon Project Act or any other applicable federal statute." Section 5 of the <br />Boulder Canyon Project Act authorizes the Secretary to enter into such contracts. <br />Numerous Contractors in Arizona, California, and Nevada now hold contracts <br />which entitle them to the delivery of Colorado River water under the circumstances <br />and in the priorities specified in the individual contracts. Contracts entered into <br />prior to the adoption of these Guidelines do not, however, expressly address <br />circumstances in which ICS or DSS might be created or delivered. <br />To ensure the requirements of Section 5 of the Boulder Canyon Project Act and <br />Article II(B)(5) of the Consolidated Decree are complied with, and to reduce the <br />possibility of ambiguity, the Secretary anticipates entering into delivery contracts <br />with any person or persons intending to create ICS or DSS. Such contracts are <br />expected to address the requirements set forth in the Guidelines for the approval of <br />ICS or DSS plans, the certification and verification of the ICS or DSS created under <br />the plans, the ordering and delivery of ICS or DSS, the accounting for ICS or DSS <br />in the annual report filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in accordance with Article V <br />of the Consolidated Decree, and such other matters as may bear on the delivery of <br />the ICS or DSS, as for example the point of delivery and place of use, if not already <br />provided for under existing contracts. <br />C. Mexico <br />The United States delivers an annual allotment of Colorado River water to Mexico <br />pursuant to the treaty between the United States of America and Mexico relating to <br />the utilization of waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande, <br />signed February 3, 1944, and its supplementary protocol signed November 14, <br />1944. In adopting these Guidelines the Department of the Interior is making a final <br />agency action regarding the operation of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, and the <br />delivery of water to water users in the United States, in response to the worst <br />drought in the Basin in over a century of recordkeeping. <br />Prior to adopting these Guidelines, the Department provided information on the <br />proposed action to the USIBWC, and met with representatives of the Mexican <br />Section of the IBWC and the Mexican Government. The Department has <br />December 2007 ROD -Colorado River Interim Guidelines for <br />26 Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated <br />Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead <br />