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e e already present in the LROC, which requires consultation with the Basin states and water users, provides flexibility to adapt the surplus criteria to changed conditions as circumstances warrant and the opportunity to gain experience on how the surplus criteria are operating without reacting to annual fluctuations. The proposed surplus criteria specifically use elevations at Lake Mead as a trigger, instead of using avoidance of flood control releases as the trigger. This management strategy identifies three levels of surplus water releases with elevation triggers that are adjusted periodically to reflect changing demand conditions in the Colorado River Basin. These specific criteria would provide for more effective and efficient use of Colorado River water by providing for steadier releases over longer periods of time. This would reduce the need for flood control releases in excess of downstream needs and increase the ability to divert and store such water for subsequent use. A summary of the criteria and its associated reservoir elevations and releases is as follows: PROPOSED LAKE MEAD INTERIM SURPLUS CRITERIA Lake Mead Lake Mead Surplus Release Elevationl Storage Releases Level / Year Ft above MSL MAF Level 1 2001 1160 17.6 All direct uses and offstream storage 2015 1166 18.4 Level 2 MWD full Aqueduct with core transfers' before surplus water, 2001 1116 13.0 all SNWA & CAP needs, M&I off-stream storage, no surplus 2015 1125 13.9 water for agriculture Level 3 MWD full aqueduct with core transfers + 100,000 AF before 2001 1088 10.5 surplus water, all SNW A & CAP needs, no off-stream storage, 2015 1098 11.3 no surplus water for agriculture The Department of the Interior has already undertaken a formal public process for the development of interim surplus criteria. The current schedule calls for circulation of final Nati6nal Environmental Policy Act documentation in December 2000, with a Record of Decision in January 200 I. Similarly, the Department of the Interior's final rule on Off stream Storage of Colorado River Water and Development and Release of Intentionally Created Unused Apportionment in the Lower Division States, released November I, 1999, seeks to help satisfy regional water demands by increasing the efficiency, flexibility, and certainty in Colorado River management. Other opportunities will arise for the Basin States through a collaborative process to further optimize the operation and management of the Colorado River system reservoirs to satisfy the growing needs and the multiple purposes for which the reservoir system is operated. Administration of Lower Colorado River Water Rights; Apportionment Decree Accounting Procedures and Inadvertent Overruns. The administration of Lower Colorado River water rights requires a number of determinations including whether water use is pursuant to, and in accordance with, a contract with the Secretary of the Interior; whether water pumped from the underground is Colorado River water; and whether proper credits against diversions have been given to a user for measured and unmeasured return flows to the Colorado River. The timeliness of these determinations is made difficult by the priority system and the lag in processing fmal data. These water use accounting efforts are carried out pursuant to the United States Supreme Court's 1964 Decree in Arizona v. California. To moderate Metropolitan's risk for use in excess of 420,000 acre-feet per year by PVID on Palo Verde Valley and Mesa lands and the Yuma Project-Reservation Division (Priorities 1,2 and 3b), the Key Terms call for the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) to develop certain accounting mechanisms. These include I Elevations to be adjusted for changes in Upper Basin demands 2 Core transfers-MWD I lID 1988 conservation program, SDCW A I nD transfer, All-American Canal and Coachella Canal lining 5