WSP12647 ‎(2)‎

• File Number: 8282.400
• Description: Colorado River Operations and Accounting - Deliveries to Mexico
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 6/1/1999
• Author: Environmental Defense Fund
• Title: A Delta Once More - Restoring Riparian and Wetland Habitat in the Colorado River Delta - Environmental Defense Fund - 06-01-99
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

D J J S' 5

launched the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species
Conservation Program (MSCP) in 1994 to mitigate
water development impacts on threatened and endan-
gered species and their habitatY In 1996, the Bureau of
Reclamation released a flood of stored water from
behind Glen Canyon Dam in an effort to redistribute
sediments in the Grand Canyon and re-create eroded
beaches.18 These efforts suggest a growing awareness
of the importance of the river's ecological health and
show the willingness of water users and their represen-
tatives to reform water management practices.

The authors believe, however, that a single-focused ef-
fort to gain additional water for the delta could lead to
conflicts with U.S. water users and a breakdown of co-
operation, as competition for Colorado River water is
already high in this fast-growing region. Lower basin
states in the u.s. are now - or soon will be - using their
full entitlement of water from the river and are working
to secure access to additional supplies.19 Mexico has
longstanding concerns over the quantity and quality of
water delivered to the border.20 In addition, Mexico
views its Colorado River entitlement as additional to

.SOURCES IN THE DELTA

Curtailment of the surface water supply and its restriction to the cultivated areas and a narrow channel
will eventually result in the reversion to the condition of the surrounding deserts of much of the region
which is at present occupied by luxuriant vegetation.

-Godfrey Sykes, The Colorado Delta, 1937

THE LAW OF THE RIVER

Use of Colorado River water is governed by a complex
set of legal and administrative agreements known col-
lectively as the Law of the River. This body of
agreements gives highest priority to consumptive uses
of water, and lowest priority to "public good" uses such
as maintaining in-stream flows to support fish, wild-
life, and habitat.15 To date, the Law of the River contains
no provision for allocating water to support the ecologi-
cal health of the Colorado's riparian zone or the delta
and upper Gulf. However, recent reforms and ongoing
negotiations to amend existing water management in-
stitutions suggest a potential for securing a dedicated
water supply for the delta at some time in the future.

Even within the constraints of the Law of the River, the
U.S. federal government and several states have suc-
cessfully secured flows for habitat and endangered
species protection in the basin. In 1987, the Recovery
Implementation Plan for the Upper Colorado River Ba-
sin was developed to protect and improve in-stream
flows, restore habitat, and reduce the adverse effects of
nonnative fish species.16 In the lower basin, water users
representing irrigation, municipal, and power interests

15 For detailed discussion of the laws and decisions that comprise the Law of the River, see Charles Meyers's and Richard Noble's articles in the Stanford
Law Review (1966 and 1967). The provisions for delivery of Colorado River water to Mexico are set forth in the Treaty with Mexico Respecting Utilization of the
Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande, February 3, 1944. The Law of the River gives priority to 1) the delivery of water to Mexico,
2) "present prefected rights" (or, water rights that were exercised prior to 1922, including the rights of Indian tribes), 3) delivery of water to the lower basin for
consumptive uses, 4) consumptive uses in the upper basin, 5) economic, nonconsumptive uses (e.g., power generation), and 6) noneconomic,
nonconsumptive uses (e.g., environmental protection). Provisions pertaining to the quality of water the U.S. must deliver to Mexico are the subject of yet
another agreement, dating to 1964, Minute 242 to the 1944 Treaty.
'6 The Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin (RIP) is a cooperative effort involving the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Western Area Power Administration, the states of Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, water users, and environ-
mentalists. The recovery program, which is expected to require 15 years, contains five major elements: 1) habitat management designed to identify and
acquire in-stream flows, including the change in operation of federal reservoirs in the basin; 2) habitat development based on the development of research
methods for creating, protecting, and improving habitat; 3) stocking native fish based on a genetic management plan; 4) nonnative species control; and 5)
research, monitoring, and data management programs designed to study various means of recovering fish, monitor long-term population trends, recommend
flows, evaluate genetic differences between populations, recommend "refugia" (facilities to hold and protect rare fish), evaluate differences between hatchery
and wild fish, establish brood stock, and develop and manage a centralized database. EDF is one of the environmental participants in the RIP and has
focused its attention on in-stream flow issues.
17 See Chapter 1, "Growing International Interest in the Delta;' for further discussion of the MSCP.
'8 The 1996 flood helped increase the sandbar volume of 50 percent of the camping beaches measured between Glen Canyon and Hoover dams. The
flood bypassed the dam's turbines, and cost approximately $2.5 million in lost hydropower revenues. (Harpman, n.d.)
'9 California already uses more than its allocated share, and Nevada is close to using its allocated share.