06d

• Board Meeting Date: 5/20/2008
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

• Specific authority to continue operating the Basin States Parallel Program, which is delivered in
Colorado by the Colorado State Conservation Board within the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture, is
included in the Senate version of the proposed 2008 Farm Bill. A compromise bill has passed out
of the conference committee, but as of this writing the President has threatened to veto it for
issues unrelated to this provision of interest to the salinity program. This extremely popular
program has been in existence for approximately 10 years and provides a vehicle for the States to
meet their required cost-share obligation on the USDA program by using the Upper and Lower
Colorado River Basin Development Funds to implement complimentary irrigation improvement
projects in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.
• USDA cost-share policies for federal FY08-09
• Federal FY08-09 and FY09-10 funding for USBR, USDA, and BLM
• USBR's study of new brine disposal strategies at the Paradox project located along the Dolores
River near Bedrock
• Adoption of the draft 2008 Triennial Review and initiation of public review process. Final
adoption will occur at the Forumis fa112008 meeting. (Steve Miller)
WHITEWATER PARK ON HOLD UNTIL FALL -Palisade officials will have to wait until fall
at the earliest to build a proposed whitewater park on the Colorado River.
Monday was the last day that construction workers could have entered the Colorado River at Riverbend
Park to start on the whitewater park.
The next window for construction opens on Oct. 1, and at that time, the town would be prepared to go
forward.
Palisade is building a computer model that officials hope will confirm their belief that the whitewater park
will pose no threat to the endangered fish species of the Colorado River. They also hope to show the park
won't interfere with irrigation or other uses of the river.
Officials are hoping to meet this month with officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Fish and
Wildlife Service.
The town also is meeting with the successful bidder for the project to determine how to handle a late start
date. (Soul°ce: Grand Junction Sentinel)
COLORADO RIVER WATER USE - As of April 1, 2008, storage in the four major Upper Basin
reservoirs decreased by 146,300 acre-feet and storage in the Lower Basin reservoirs decreased by 96,900
acre-feet during March 2008. Total system active storage as of April 7 was 30.894 million acre-feet
(MAF), or 52 percent of capacity, which is 2.429 MAF less than one year ago. (Upper Basin reservoirs
decreased by 1.357 MAF, and Lower Basin reservoirs decreased by 1.072 MAF.)
The end-of year measure for 2004 California agricultural consumptive use of Colorado River water under the
first three priorities and the sixth priority of the 1931 California Seven Party Agreement was reported as
3.524 MAF; and for 2005, the end-of year measure was 3.581 MAF. The target under the Interim
Surplus Guidelines (ISG) for the end of 2003 was 3.740 MAF, and the target for 2006 is 3.640 MAF,
thus California was incompliance with the ISG through 2005. 2007 end-of year use was reported as
3.753 MAF and is shown in the first graph below. Tracking of use in 2008 is shown in the second graph
on the below, with forecasted uses at the end of 2008 of approximately 3.629 MAF.
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