8013

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8013
• Author: Pontius, D. and I. SWCA.
• Title: Colorado River Basin Study.
• USFW Year: 1997.
• USFW - Doc Type: Tucson, Arizona.
• Copyright Material: NO

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Contents

Page

Executive Summary .......................................... S-1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1

Background Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2

Geography ................................................. 2

Hydrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5

Water Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8

Diversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . .. 8

Major Water Use and Allocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., 10
Operation of the River . . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., 18
Federal Involvement in the Colorado River Basin .............. 18
The Law of the River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., 20
The Secretary of the Interior: Water Master in the Lower Basin ., 21
Proposed Regulations for the Lower Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., 22
The Mexican Treaty Obligation and Augmenting the Basin

Supply .............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 24

Major Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 26

Water Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 26
Water Management in the Lower Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 26
Current Issues and Projected Demand .................... 26
California's Water Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 26
Beneficial Use Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 29
Other Conservation Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 31
Reservoir Operations and Surplus Criteria ................ 32
Arizona's Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 33
The Central Arizona Project .......................... 33
Repayment Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 34
The Governor's CAP Advisory Committee ............... 35
Indian Water Settlements and the CAP ......... . . . . . . .. 36
CAP Environmental Issues ........................... 36
The Arizona Water Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 37
Nevada's Concerns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 39
Water Management in the Upper Basin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 40
The Upper Colorado River Basin Compact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 40
The Colorado River Storage Project Act ................... 41
Upper Basin Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 41
Current Uses and Projected Demand in the Upper Basin. . . .. 43
Central Utah Project Status ............................ 43
Animas-La Plata Project Status ......................... 44
State Conservation Programs: Some Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 46

Reuse Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 48

Ecosystem Sustain ability .................................... 50
The Upper Basin Recovery Implementation Program. . . . . . . . . ., 51
The San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program (SJRRIP) 53
The Lower Basin Approach: The Multi-Species Conservation

Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 54

Background ......................................... 54