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

• Year: 2007
• Title: The Secretary of the Interior - Washington - CO River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead
• CWCB Section: Interstate & Federal
• Description: The Secretary of the Interior - Washington - CO River Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and the Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead
• Publications - Doc Type: Other

Interim Guidelines for the
Operation of Lake Powell
and Lake Mead
increase the flexibility of meeting water use needs from Lake Mead, particularly
under drought and low reservoir conditions; and
• determine those conditions under which the Secretary may declare the
availability of surplus water for use within the Lower Division states. The
proposed federal action would modify the substance of the existing ISG and the
term of the ISG from 2016 through 2026.
Six alternatives are considered and analyzed in the Final EIS. The alternatives consist
of a No Action Alternative and five action alternatives. The five action alternatives are:
Basin States Alternative, Conservation Before Shortage Alternative, Water Supply
Alternative, Reservoir Storage Alternative, and the Preferred Alternative. The action
alternatives reflect input from Reclamation staff, the cooperating agencies, stakeholders,
and other interested parties.
Reclamation received t~vo written proposals for alternatives that met the purpose and
need of the proposed federal action, one from the Basin States and another from a
consortium of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGO). These proposals
were used by Reclamation to formulate two of the alternatives considered and analyzed
in the Final EIS (Basin States Alternative and Conservation Before Shortage
Alternative). A third alternative (Water Supply Alternative) was developed by
Reclamation, and a fourth alternative (Reservoir Storage Alternative) was developed by
Reclamation in coordination with the NPS and Western. The No Action Alternative
and the action alternatives analyzed in the Draft EIS were posted on Reclamation's
project website (http://vovvvv.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies.html) on June ;0,
2006.
A fifth alternative, the Preferred Alternative, was developed (and included in the Final
EIS) after consideration of the comments received on the Draft EIS and further analysis.
The Preferred Alternative was posted on Reclamation's project website on June 15,
2007 and is composed of operational elements from the action alternatives identified
and analyzed in the Draft EIS.
The Preferred Alternative is the most reasonable and feasible alternative; all
environmental effects of this alternative, as well as the No Action Alternative and the
remaining four action alternatives have been fully analyzed in the Final EIS. The
identified environmental effects of the Preferred Alternative are well within the range of
anticipated effects of the alternatives presented in the Draft EIS and do not affect the
environment in a manner not already considered in the Draft EIS.
Reclamation identified the Prefei~-ed Alternative and the Conservation Before Shortage
Alternative as the environmentally preferred alternatives, as provided in 50 CFR
1505.2. The combination of the ICS mechanism and the coordinated operations
between Lake Powell and Lake Mead maintains and enhances water supply and
environmental benefits at both reservoirs. In addition, these alternatives strike an
December 2007 ROD -Colorado River Interim Guidelines for
8 Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated
Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead