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<br />Interior Department will determine Lake Powell's downstream releases <br />~. " e e <br /> <br /> <br />Page 1 of2 <br /> <br />SENTINEL Search Site/Web enhanced by Coogle <br /> <br /> <br />Home I News I Sports I Features <br />Interior Department will determine <br />lake Powell's downstream releases <br /> <br />I Health I Money I Weather I Marketplace I Classifieds I Subscri <br />opJc <br /> <br />Wednesday, April 27, 2005 <br /> <br />By GARY HARMON <br /> <br />The Daily Sentinel <br /> <br />Interior Secretary Gale Norton will decide whether <br />the Colorado River, which is expected to swell <br />significantly for the first time in several springs, <br />should refill Lake Powell or pass the water <br />downstream. <br /> <br /> <br />Norton will make the decision because negotiators <br />for the upper- and lower-basin states failed to reach agreement this week during meetings in Las Vegas, <br />Nev. <br /> <br />"She has been receiving briefings and consultations, and we are getting her more information," said Interior <br />Department spokesman Frank Quimby. <br /> <br />Although there is "no hard-and-fast legal deadline" for Norton to act, "She needs to make a decision," <br />Quimby said. <br /> <br />The failure to reach a decision isn't necessarily bad, said Russ George, executive director of the Colorado <br />Department of Natural Resources. It forces the seven states along the Colorado River to confront an issue <br />they have long let be submerged by high flows. <br /> <br />''We've never had to analyze and litigate the short side" of the 1922 compact among the states that <br />governs the river, George said. <br /> <br />The devising of the annual operating plan for lakes Mead, Powell, Flaming Gorge and the Aspinall and <br />Navajo units along the Colorado have forced the issue to a head, especially because of the low levels in <br />Lake Powell. <br /> <br />The states faced a Saturday deadline to submit their proposal to the Interior Department. <br /> <br />Under the compact, the lower-basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada are to receive 7.5 million <br />acre-feet of water each year, based on a 10-year rolling average. <br /> <br />Though there is little dispute on that point, there is an issue over how much water the upper basin is to <br />deliver under the nation's treaty with Mexico. In previous years, the upper basin has supplied half that <br />amount, but under protest that the high-elevation states are responsible for less. <br /> <br />Now the issue is being pushed to the top, in part because Colorado has wanted the issue settled, he said. <br /> <br />SHIPPING <br />Parts COml <br />person for <br /> <br />The Stead <br />Clinic in Vl <br />Cli......Lf!1Q1 <br /> <br />MA or LPI <br />internal ml <br />experienCE <br /> <br />Wendy s J <br />Fruita loca <br />currently.. <br /> <br />CNC OPEl <br />Montrose <br />looking for <br /> <br />Experienc <br />wanted da <br />A...... (morl <br /> <br />ArrENTIC <br />your caree <br />Palli......LITl <br /> <br />RN REFRI <br />COURSE I <br />6th 13 We. <br />(more) <br /> <br />Con-Sy is <br />concrete I~ <br />formsette. . <br /> <br />ViewJ <br /> <br /> <br />http://www.gjsentine1.comlnews/content/news/stories/2005/04/27 /4_28_ Lake _ PowellJe1e... 4/28/2005 <br />