09d

• Board Meeting Date: 3/18/2008
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Representatives of the seven states and hempthorne, in turn, signed a document affirming the historic
agreement. The signing ceremony occurred at the annual Colorado River Water Users Association
meeting and was greeted with a standing ovation.
The adoption of the shortage criteria follow the 2001 adoption of interim guidelines for surplus water
conditions in the Lower Basin; and many people point out that by adding agreements such as these to the
Law of the River, it has helped ensure the Compact keeps pace with changes in the Colorado River Basin.
The potential for a major shortfall in supplies because of the severe drought has led to the current
Reclamation/seven-state/environmentalists effort to craft shortage criteria. In November, Reclamation
issued its final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the "Colorado River Interim Guidelines for
Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations for Lake Powell and Lake Mead." But even then,
after months of working to reach agreement on a plan, there were last minute disputes over elements of
the plan.
Disputes on the shortage proposal exemplify the difficulty of forging agreements and proposals that all
the states will support, much less the other interests in those states. They also illustrate the Colorado River
Basin's unique federal-state political and legal dynamic -especially in the Lower Basin states of Arizona,
California and Nevada.
Meanwhile, Mexico is facing its own challenges with water salinity, urban growth, and protecting and
restoring environmental values; and actions being undertaken in the United States to conserve Colorado
River water that benefits Mexico have generated tension between the two countries. Already the two
countries found themselves in a legal conflict over the lining of the All-American Canal. The canal loses
an estimated 67,700 acre-feet of water from seepage each year; replacing portions with aconcrete-lined
channel will conserve water for California's Colorado River water users. But some of the water from the
unlined canal currently seeps into the ground where it is pumped out of the groundwater aquifer in the
Mexicali Valley. Another conservation effort on the U.S. side of the border -construction of a reservoir
along the All-American Canal to capture unused water -will reduce the amount of water that currently
flows across the border into Mexico. This water is not counted in Mexico's annual Colorado River
allocation, but the country has grown to rely on it.
Conflict is a familiar component in the Colorado River Basin; even with the Compact in place, the states
have pursued legislative and legal actions against one another over the past 85 years. Yet at the
international, federal and state levels, most conflicts result in an effort to reach some sort of a compromise
to resolve the underlying issue. Continuing this trend -and perhaps even broadening it to include other
stakeholders - is very critical as the w°hole basin, on both sides of the border, confronts the future.
This Western Water marks the 85th anniversary of the Colorado River Compact and considers its role in
the past and present on key issues such as federal funding for water projects and international issues.
Much of the content for this magazine came from the Foundation's September Colorado River
Symposium, The Colorado River Compact at 85 and Changes on the River. The Foundation will publish
the full proceedings of the symposium, which was recorded, in Spring 2008.
HAT CREEK WATER COURT APPLICATION - On December 26, 2007, the CWCB filed an
application in the Division 5 Water Court to change the Hat Creek Ditch water right (acquired from the
Colorado Water Trust in 2007) from irrigation use to instream flow use to preserve the natural
environments of Hat Creek and East Brush Creek to a reasonable degree. Statements of Opposition were
filed by the Colorado Water Trust (in support); Diamond S Ranch, LLC; and the Town of Eagle. Issues
raised in the Statements of Opposition include the need to determine the historic irrigation of land under
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