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<br />4. Flows of Colorado River <br /> <br />Table 3 on pages 22 and 23 shows the estimated virgin flow <br />of the Colorado River at Lee Ferry, Arizona for each water year <br />from 1896 through 1987, Column (4) of the table shows the <br />average virgin flow for any given year within the period com- <br />puted through water year 1987. Column (5) shows the average <br />virgin flow for a given year within the period computed since <br />water year 1896, Column (6) shows the average virgin flow for <br />each progressive ten-year period beginning with the ten-year <br />period ending on September 30, 1905. The difference between <br />the virgin flow for a given year and the average flow over the <br />92-year period, 1896 through 1987, is shown in Column (7). <br /> <br />Article III(d) of the Colorado River Compact stipulates that <br />"the States of the Upper Division will not cause the flow of the <br />river at Lee Ferry to be depleted below an aggregate of <br />75,000,000 acre-feet for any period of ten consecutiye years <br />reckoned in a continuing progressive series beginning with the <br />first day of October next succeeding the ratification of this Com- <br />pact." Prior to the storage of water in the Colorado River Stor- <br />age Project reservoirs, which began in 1962, the flow of the <br />river at Lee Ferry in any ten consecutive years was greatly in <br />excess of the 75,000,000 acre-feet required by the Compact. <br />Beginning in 1962, Colorado River Storage Project reservoirs <br />have regulated the river above Glen Canyon Dam. Table 4, on <br />page 24, shows the historic flow at Lee Ferry for the period <br />1953 through 1987. The historic flow for each progressive ten- <br />year period from 1953 through 1987, beginning with the ten-year <br />period ending September 30, 1962, the commencement of stor- <br />age in Colorado River Storage Project reservoirs, is shown in <br />Column (3). <br /> <br />In each consecutive ten-year period, the total flow equaled <br />or exceeded the 75,000,000 acre-feet required by the Compact. <br />The flow at Lee Ferry during the ten-year period ending Sep- <br />tember 30, 1987 was 131,852,000 acre-feet. <br /> <br />The charts on pages 25 and 26 illustrate some of the perti- <br />nent historical facts related to the amounts of water produced by <br />the Colorado River System above Lee Ferry, Arizona, the com- <br />pact division point between the Upper and Lower Colorado <br />River Basins. The first chart, on page 25, is entitled Colorado <br />River Flow at Lee Ferry, Arizona. The top of each white vertical <br />bar represents the estimated virgin flow of the river, i.e" the <br /> <br />21 <br />