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Interim Guidelines for the <br />Operation of Lake Powell <br />and Lake Mead <br />Guidelines are based upon the Preferred Alternative analyzed in the Final EIS, and <br />include several operational refinements as a result of public input, described below in <br />Section VII. The interim Guidelines would be used each year by the Department in <br />implementing the Criteria for Coordinated Long-Range Operation of Colorado River <br />Reservoirs Pursuant to the Colorado River Basin Project Act of September 30, 1968 <br />(Long-Range Operating Criteria or Operating Criteria or LROC), through issuance of <br />the Annual Operating Plan for Colorado River Reservoirs (AOP). The Guidelines <br />would remain in effect for determinations to be made through 2025 regarding water <br />supply and reservoir operating decisions through 2026, as provided below in Section 8 <br />of the Guidelines. <br />The Preferred Alternative proposes: <br />• discrete levels of shortage volumes associated with Lake Mead elevations to <br />conserve reservoir storage and provide water users and managers in the Lower <br />Basin with greater certainty to know when, and by how much, water deliveries <br />will be reduced in drought and other low reservoir conditions; <br />• a coordinated operation of Lake Powell and Lake Mead determined by specified <br />reservoir conditions that would minimize shortages in the Lower Basin and <br />avoid the risk of curtailments in the Upper Basin; <br />• a mechanism to encourage and account for augmentation and conservation of <br />water supplies, referred to as Intentionally Created Surplus (ICS), that would <br />minimize the likelihood and severity of potential future shortages; and <br />• the modification and extension of the Interim Surplus Guidelines (66 Fed. Reg. <br />7772, Jan 25, 2001) (ISG) through 2026. <br />III. Background <br />The Secretary, acting through Reclamation, is responsible for water management <br />throughout the western United States. Reclamation's authority is limited throughout the <br />west by the limiting provisions of Reclamation law, beginning with the Reclamation <br />Act of 1902. <br />The Secretary also has a broader and unique legal role as he manages the lower <br />Colorado River system in accordance with federal law, including the Boulder Canyon <br />Project Act of 1928, the 1963 Decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Arizona v. <br />California, the 2006 Consolidated Decree of the U. S. Supreme Court in Arizona v. <br />California (Consolidated Decree), the Colorado River Basin Project Act of 1968 <br />(CRBPA), the LROC, and the Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1992, and other <br />applicable provisions of federal law. Within this legal framework, the Secretary makes <br />annual determinations regarding the availability of water from Lake Mead by <br />considering various factors, including the amount of water in system storage and <br />December 2007 ROD -Colorado River Interim Guidelines for <br />4 Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated <br />Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead <br />