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<br />Comment No. 47 - (Letter No. 23): We have no objections to the proposed removal of <br />obsolete provisions in the Operating Criteria. <br /> <br />Response: Comment noted. <br /> <br />Comment No. 48 - (Letter No. 23): An amount less than the minimum release objective <br />may be released from Lake Powell, if the states of the Upper Division are in compliance <br />with Article III( d) of the Colorado River Compact, in order to avoid impairment or <br />potential impairment of the beneficial consumptive use of water in any Upper Division <br />State. <br /> <br />Response: See response to Comment No. 34. <br /> <br />Comment No. 49 - (Letter No. 23): The Operating Criteria have been flexible enough to <br />allow for adjustments following the floods of the 1980s, they have been flexible enough <br />to allow for the development of the interim operating criteria to aid California in reducing <br />its use of Colorado River water to 4.4 million acre-feet per year, and they have been <br />flexible enough to allow for experimental flow tests from Glen Canyon Dam in 1996 and <br />. again in 2004. All these were accomplished within the limitations provided by the <br />Colorado River Compact, the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, and the Mexican <br />Water Treaty. The Operating Criteria cannot be used to modify these basIC documents, <br />as some would suggest. <br /> <br />Response: The Department concurs. The Operating Criteria cannot be used to modify <br />the Colorado River Compact, the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, or the Mexican <br />Water Treaty. <br /> <br />Comment No. 50 - (Letter No. 24): The Operating Criteria should meet the intent of the <br />1922 Colorado River Compact, yet be flexible enough to take into consideration <br />variations in hydrologic conditions and drought. <br /> <br />Response: The Operating Criteri~ were developed to provide sufficient flexibility in the <br />operation of Colorado River reservoirs while meeting the requirements of interstate <br />compacts, federal laws, treaties, decrees, and regulations germane to the Colorado River. <br />Over the past 34 years, the Operating Criteria have provided the flexibility to properly <br />manage the Colorado River through periods of average, above average, and below <br />average inflow. <br /> <br />Comment No. 51 - (Letter No. 24): The 1922 Colorado River Compact intended for a <br />flexible water delivery schedule based on 10-year averages. The existing Operating <br />Criteria appear to dictate a minimal release that does not consider drought conditions. <br /> <br />Response: See response to Comment No. 34. <br /> <br />27 <br /> <br />