7754

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7754
• Author: Harris, R., H. Sersland and F. P. Sharpe.
• Title: Realities of Providing Water for Endangered Fishes in the Upper Colorado River System.
• USFW Year: 1981.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

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10 consecutive years and that if sufficient surplus waters are not available
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for Mexico I s allotment of 1.5 MAF annual!~y, the deficiency would be made up

equally by the Upper and Lower Basins.

I:
The 1948 Upper Colorado River Compact pe~itted Arizona to use 50,000 acre-feet

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of water annually from the Upper Colorad~ R1ver System and apportioned the

remaining water to the other Upper Basin~tates in the following percentages:
I

State of Colorado

51. 75 percent

State of New Mexico

11.25 percent

State of Utah

23,00 percent

;

State of Wyoming

14.00 percent

It should be pointed out that these are consumptive use rights, and the states

may divert more than their entitlement provided return flows are sufficient to

make up the delivery requirement to the Lower Basin States and Mexico.

The division of water among the States opened the way for development of Upper

Basin water projects which Congress had previously not approved. Therefore, 1n

1956, Congress enacted the Colorado River Storage Project Act which included

four large mainstem storage units on the Colorado River and its tributaries:

Glen Canyon, Flaming Gorge, Navajo, and Curecanti (now Wayne N. Aspinall), With

the construction of the six reservo1rs that are part of those storage units

(Lake Powell, Flaming Gorge, Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, Crystal, and Navajo

Reservoirs) about 26 MAF of storage space became available for making compact

delivery at Lee Ferry, Arizona, during periods of subnormal runoff.

Initial filling of the mainstem reserV01r system was completed with the filling

of Lake Powell 1n June of 1980. Operation of the system during the current