WSP12637

• File Number: 8282.300
• Description: Colorado River Operations and Accounting - Lower Basin Administrative Procedures
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 8/1/1996
• Author: DOI-BOR
• Title: Description and Assessment of Operations-Maintenance and Sensitive Species of the Lower Colorado River - Volume I - Report - 08-01-96
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Reservations water entitlements, and other Federal entitlements listed in the Court decrees.

2. Secretarial reservations for Federal uses, such as the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), FWS, and Reclamation.

3. Contractual entitlements under section 5 of the Boulder Canyon Project Act.

4. The International Treaty with Mexico for 1.5 maf.

The Secretary is responsible for managing the lower basin and for providing for the delivery
of Colorado River water entitlements to entitlement holders. A water delivery contract with
the Secretary secures and protects the entitlement holder as the contract quantifies the amount
of Colorado River water the entitlement holder is entitled to beneficially use and states the
priority of that water use.

Secretarial determinations are based upon the decision whether conditions meet a "normal
year," "surplus year," or "shortage year" as prescribed by the associated law and
requirements. For the purposes of this document, a normal year is when the Secretary
determines that there is sufficient mainstream water to satisfy the annual pumping and
releases from Lake Mead to satisfy 7.5 maf of annual consumptive use in the lower basin,
plus 1.5 maf for Mexico. A surplus year is when the Secretary determines that there is more
water available than in a normal year, and a shortage year is when the Secretary determines
that there is less water available than in a normal year. When an entitlement holder
schedules water in a normal year or surplus year, the Secretary has no option but to deliver
the water as prescribed by law and contract in the amounts and at the times requested, so
long as it does not exceed that reasonably required for beneficial consumptive use. In a
shortage year, the Secretary is required to consult with the affected parties and then factor in
the shortages as prescribed by law and contract. These actions may be perceived to be
discretionary, but, as required by law, there is a process of consultation based on water
conditions. To date, a surplus has not been declared: however, within the next 5 years such
a declaration is possible.

The Secretary is required by Article V of the Supreme Court decree to keep a record of all
Colorado River water diversions, returns, and consumptive use, along with other
water-related data, and to make that information available to interested parties at least
annually. The water accounting function is non-discretionary; whereas, the method or
process utilized to collect and publish the report may be discretionary.

Typically, water schedules are placed by entitlement holders in advance. Some water
schedules are placed a month in advance and call for daily, and sometimes hourly, water
volumes. The advance schedules may be revised or changed at the request of the entitlement
holder. Since water entitlement contracts are for perpetuity, the water schedule terms and
conditions may vary due to the effective date of the contract. Some of the contracts have a
maximum rate of diversion in terms of cfs, approved points of diversion(s), and authorized
type of water use or place of water use. The Secretary adopted the 1931 California

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