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<br />The Pueblo Chieftain Online <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />Page 2 of3 <br /> <br />reach equal levels more quickly. <br /> <br />"I don't know if we can reach it this year/' Kuharich said. <br /> <br />Under what's called the minimum optimal release, the Upper Basin states - <br />Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming - are r~9-l.I.Lred to release 8.23 million <br />acre-feet. The compact provides for 7.5 million acre-feet to the lower basin states, <br />plus half of the 1.5 million the United States is required to provide Mexico. The <br />Paria River provides 20,000 acre-feet at Lee's Ferry, the compact measuring point. <br /> <br />The Lower Basin states - Arizona, California and Nevada - have argued for higher <br />levels in Lake Mead, which has also dropped significantly in recent years. <br /> <br />Even with the 8.23 million acre-feet release, Lake Mead would finish the year 55 <br />percent full because of releases to the Lower Basin states. Lake Powell would be <br />45 percent full. <br /> <br />Kuharich said the drought in the Lower Basin states has been relieved somewhat <br />by a wet winter that left behind an estimated 2.1 million acre-feet above average <br />flows. <br /> <br />"The Lower Basin is getting all the water it needs, but it still wants 8.23 million <br />acre-feet," Kuharich said. <br /> <br />The Upper Basin states want to release a minimum of 7.48 million acre-feet, which <br />probably would be enough to ensure a 10-year rolling average delivery of 75 <br />million acre-feet is met, but which would add up to 750,000 acre-feet to Lake <br />Powell. Because of wet years in the 1990s, the 10-year average is now close to <br />100 million acre-feet. <br /> <br />Kuharich said the lower delivery would help conserve water because of lower <br />evaporation rates - Lake Powell is about 2,500 feet higher in elevation than Lake <br />Mead. <br /> <br />"If you keep the water in Powell, you have a higher head for hydroelectric power <br />generation as well," Kuharich said. <br /> <br />Lower Basin states would benefit because the lakes would reach equalization more <br />quickly. Put another way, Lake Powell is filling faster than Lake Mead. <br /> <br />http://www.chieftain.comlprint.php?article=/metro/1114699925/2 <br /> <br />4/28/2005 <br /> <br /> <br />"The Lower Basin benefits by accelerating Powell to the equalization level. In the <br />long run, the Lower Basin could see Mead filling sooner if we hold it in Powell," <br />Kuharich said. <br /> <br />Las Vegas, which takes its water from Lake Mead, is concerned about lower levels <br />in Lake Mead making it physically impossible to take water through its intake. <br />Kuharich said Mead's level still is about 50 feet above the intake. The city is <br />