Chapter 1: Summary of "The Law of the River"

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24 UPDATING THE HOOVER DAM DOCUMENTS the he storage and release of water and in the operatio U o Federal reserv R iver Basin ($) It required that, in t with the Colorado River Compact, the Secretary and Federal officials comply on Project Adjustment Act, the Mexican Compact, the Boulder Canyon Project Act, the Boulder Canyon water Treaty, the Decree of the Supreme Court in A affe ted st 'f may sue, and Colorado River given Storage o the Project Act. In the event of failure to so comply any a The Secre uses and I ose joinder of the United States of water efrom Pres Colorado River as nu and to the Basin States on the annual consumpt ear peri All contracts for the delivery of water from Federal reservoirs System after each successive 5 -y P 60 o f . op of Federal are conditioned upon the availability of water under a fo Chercoordinat d� long ct 60 nits of the (9) It directed the Secretary to propose 1 the for the storae of water Colorado River reservoirs, and provided that the d releases of waterefrom Lake Powell gn a stated order of p priority: ( ) Storage Project and U pper Division, if any exists; (2) the Upper Treaty obligation to Mexico, chargeable to the States of the n; Lake Mead and Lake Powell was also e of 75 maf every ea years h the Lower Basin; and (3) carryover storage to meet these Basin guarante reference. Parity in storage between obligations were to be given p is to report on the actual operation for the provided. Following the adoption of the criteria, the Secretary preceding compact water year and the project June 8, 1970 current year (Section 602) . The criteria were adopted by the Secretar 10 rights of the Upper Basin to the consumptive use of water from the Colorado fiver ( ) It reaffirmed the rig provided that such rights shall not be reduced or System available to that Basin under the Compact and p udiced by any use of such water in the Lower Basi Further, t at the n shall not be construed to im prei Upper Colorado Rive pair the duties and powers of the (11) It defined terms such as "ac rado R ver ` ( Section nd Project A ct are contained 0 in Chapter XII hereof. Further details regarding the Colo N. Operating Criteria eration of the reservoirs con- Section 602(a) of the Colorado River Basin P 1968, 82 Stat. 885, directe rojeef Act of September 30, t. e S range op Secretary of the Interior to "propose criteria for the coordinated long - nt Act...'' and to receive comments from the States. The need for the criteria was the concern of the Upper uct and operated under the authority of the Colorado River Storage Project Act, the Boulder annyon pr on Project Adjustment ture f Project Act, and the Boulder C Basin States as to their ability to r any � er recapture ortioned to the Upper Basin when needed for n ew project in the Lower Basin presently unused water app Project and releases of water from Lake Poweli. The he their own development. As a resu of negotiations e the Basin Project Act contained a list of priorities to g tive use of water apportioned to that Basin y the storage of water in storage units of the Storag also provided that the Upper Basin's rights to the consump any use thereof in the Lower Basin Colorado River Compact would not be prejudice. _ d or reduced he In other words, storage in Lake Powell is the cornerstone of the Upper Basin's ability to deliver water to the permit of Lower Basin to fulfill the requirements of Articles 111(c deliveries to Mexico and Il(d) I deals w t time, h deliveries of Upper Basin consumptive uses. Article .111(c) deals -change of views with the States and af- 75 maf to the Lower Basin each 10 years. The criteria were to be prepared and a legislative requirements for e the criteria more efficient the controversy fected parties. The_ objective of the leg river management. At the same time tr bu on tt on was and whether the Gila River flows are accountable over the Upper Basins share of con ter to Mexico, therefor. An example was the requirement that the first if any such deficiency exists and is priority for the release of water from Lake Powell is o th ficiency in deliveries o 1 in any y ear that the river is satisfy one -half of the de n, but that the priority shall not apply the Treaty requirements an losses. chargeable to the States of the Upper Basi d associated ' ---Augmented sufficiently to satisfy ._ _ __ ____. _. _.. __ __._ e use and magnitude of a specific figure for releases om Among other major issues involved in the disch scions - over fr the crtteria .were Lake Powell ban storage, estimates of Upper and Lower Basin depletions; the use of a rule curve to accumulate Lake Powell (e -g•' B.B ma ;continuation of the Filling Criteria; and Basin reservoirs. storage in the Upper