Hearing on HR 3881: Testimony of Steve Arveschoug

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H. R. 3881 has two main purposes. The first objective of H.R. 3881 is to better utilize existing capacity in the Fry -Ark Project reservoirs to help meet growing demand for storage. Section 3 of the legislation would authorize the Secretary of Interior to enter into contracts with cities and towns within the District that need to store non - Project water to supply their current and future domestic supply needs. This is Phase I of the District's PSOP referred to as re- operations storage, the goal being to make full use of existing capacity in the Project without interfering with the current entitlements to Project water and storage. These new storage contracts help communities meet their water needs through the year 2013. At that point new storage capacity will need to be developed and that's why we're asking for the enlargement studies. There is a very important element to this new contract authority established in Section 3. Under subsection (d) of Section 3, entities wanting a re- operations contract from Reclamation must have first agreed to the protections established in the PSOP. Before a contract is executed the contractor must have an agreement in place with the District that commits them to participate in the Long- term Water Quality Monitoring Program, the Pueblo Flow Management Program, the Winter Water Spill Credit Program, and to share in the costs of developing the re- operations contract authority. I understand that Reclamation may view this approach as a limitation on their discretion to contract with whomever they want, but it's probably the most important piece of this legislation. It protects the other interests in the Fry-Ark Project that are not direct participants in the re- operations contracting. This requirement does not set aside Reclamation's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process that will be done before executing these storage contracts. Indeed, that process may identify other environmental or recreation issues that will need to be addressed before a contract is executed. The commitments were asking for are not a requirement on Reclamation. The water users will need to make the commitment to these programs to help protect water quality, fish and wildlife, and recreation interests. To date, the District has executed a memorandum of agreement with eight communities seeking storage contracts from Reclamation totaling 38,300 acre -feet. The commitments to these programs are already in place. There is precedent in looking to the water districts involved in the Fry-Ark Project before contracts are executed. The Operating Principles of the Project require that Reclamation seek the approval of the Colorado River Water Conservation District before Colorado River water in Ruedi Reservoir (a west slope feature of the Fry-Ark Project) can be contracted to an entity out of the basin. That's an important protection for the Colorado River basin. H.R. 3881 doesn't create the same sort of approval process, but it would require that protections be in place for the Arkansas River basin, as described in the PSOP, before Reclamation executes a "re- operations" contract. 6