Laserfiche WebLink
<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I, <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />OD2332 <br /> <br />. the amount water orders are reduced if determined to be within that reasonably <br />required for beneficial use. <br /> <br />The discretionary actions associated with the use of Colorado River water relate to <br />non-consumptive water uses for which Reclamation is not severally enjoined. For example, <br />such non-consumptive uses could include, recreation on the reservoirs and the Colorado <br />River, increased flushing flows at Topock Marsh, and fish habitat within or adjacent to the <br />mainstream of the Colorado River (such as Three-Fingers Lake). If any of the activities <br />would have a consumptive use, the party responsible for the use would have to acquire a <br />water entitlement to account for the water consumptively used as required by the Court <br />decree. <br /> <br />It should be noted that the restrictions and obligations in the laws and decrees are so <br />encompassing that the Senator Wash re-regulating reservoir was authorized and constructed <br />to help meet the mandatory requirements for water delivery. Similarly, the storage and <br />resultant elevations of Lake Mohave and Lake Havasu are used to re-regulate the local storm <br />waters and last minute changes in water orders. These re-regulations are minuscule <br />compared to the river's total flow and are therefore unmeasurable. However, within very <br />narrow confines, the management of the lake levels of these three facilities may be <br />considered discretionary. <br /> <br />On average, 96 percent of the water in the lower basin enters the system at Lee Ferry, and <br />the remaining 4 percent comes from side flows into the system from the rivers or occasional <br />rain flows. According to the Law of the River, this remaining 4 percent becomes <br />Colorado River mainstream water when commingled with the Colorado River or its <br />associated underground water aquifer and is subject to the same restraints. <br /> <br />The Secretary's role in the lower Colorado River basin, regarding water storage and the <br />delivery of water apportionments and entitlements throughout the system, is subject to the <br />Law of the River which includes the 1922 Compact, the Boulder Canyon Project Act, the <br />1964 Supreme Court decree, and contracts, settlement decrees, and applicable Federal and <br />State law. <br /> <br />3. Declaration of Surplus <br /> <br />The Secretary, under the powers vested by Congress in Section 5 of the Boulder Canyon <br />Project Act, as confirmed by Section II(B)(2) of the 1964 Decree, has certain discretionary <br />authority to determine when more than 7.5 maf of Colorado River water is available for <br />consumptive use during a calendar year in the three lower Division States; this is a surplus <br />determination. When making this determination, the Secretary must consider all relevant <br />factors as specified in Section III(3)(b) of the long-range operating criteria, including, but not <br />limited to, the following conditions. <br /> <br />· Mexican Treaty obligations, <br /> <br />26 <br />