Agenda Item 17: Water Supply Protection - Colorado River 7-State Agreement Approval

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" , t January 23 -24, 2007 Board Meeting Agenda Item 17 Page 6 of 6 would move forward with plans to develop water on the Virgin and Muddy River, which would precipitate the lawsuit over tributary uses under the Compact. • The revised plan of operation for lakes Powell and Mead under low reservoir conditions will lessen the possibility of curtailments in the Upper Basin, but it will not remove the risk totally. The terms of the Agreement, if selected by USBR as the preferred alternative, will result in the protection of power operations at Glen Canyon as long as possible under extreme drought circumstances. While the added protection over present day operations is not considerably greater because the risk of curtailments and dropping below minimum power plant operating levels is already very low with or without the deal, there is still some small advantage for the Upper Basin if the States proposal is selected. The States proposal, if adopted, will allow annual releases from Lake Powell to go as low as 7.48 MAF under certain circumstances, potentially for extended periods if appropriate. Consistent with the law, the Upper Basin gets further acknowledgment that releases from Lake Powell can be less than 8.23 MAF which the current Long Range Operating Criteria presently call for. • The conjunctive use of Powell and Mead will tend, under surplus and average conditions, to send more water to Mead and forestall the necessity for and severity of shortage in the L.B. • The Lower Basin would achieve a framework for implementing system efficiencies and developing augmentation supplies, rather than focus solely on unused apportionment in the Upper Basin. • Finally, the Agreement specifically states that the Agreement shall expire on December 31, 2025. Therefore, all the states get to avoid litigation through at least that date. This allows everyone to proceed with development, but certainly with a much higher degree of awareness. Recommendation Authorize Colorado's representatives to sign the 7 -State agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto. The appropriate time for signing will likely be in February when the draft DEIS is released. However, comments on the DEIS will not be due until approximately May 1 so there is a possibility that the execution of this document would be delayed until that time. In the latter case, we would anticipate that the signed agreement would be submitted together with an agreed upon set of comments from the 7- Basin States on the DEIS. One caution, there still may be a few areas for negotiation before the states present to Interior their "preferred alternative" and comments to the DEIS. It is still possible that we might have a seven states agreement, but disagreement as to what form the preferred alternative for river management might take. Attachments •