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Much of this project is concentrated within Mexico. Though truly beneficial for Mexico, <br />concerns arise out of the impact of the environment as the facilities are constructed and <br />operated in the future. The requirements of the General Law of Ecological Balance and <br />IN Environmental Protection of Mexico must be met. Mitigation of construction activities and <br />restoration of affected areas must be carefully planned. The location of desalters near the Sea <br />of Cortez will require close coordination with protected ecological areas within the high gulf, as <br />well as possible effects on existing fisheries. <br />The political history of the Colorado River is both lengthy and complex. Water rights and water <br />quality issues have been negotiated between Mexico and the USA (and among the states within <br />the river basin) for years. The sum of all the past agreements are known as the "Law of the <br />River ". The "Law of the River" has many chapters, most are specific, but some are yet to be <br />fully interpreted and agreed upon. That "Law..." involves two major Congressionally approved <br />Interstate water compacts, many Congressional Acts, a major U.S. Supreme Court Decision or <br />Decree, and numerous other state, federal and international agreements. <br />The 1944 Mexican Water Treaty guarantees Mexico at least 1,500,000 ac -ft (1,850 x 106 M3) of <br />water per annum distributed monthly per Mexico's request. without any provision for <br />shortages. That is, Mexico gets 1,500,000 ac -ft (1,850 x 106 M3) per annum, regardless of how <br />much water is available to the seven Colorado River Basins during prolonged droughts. <br />It should be noted that not all of Mexico's allocation of 1.5 maf (1,850 x 106 M3) can be made <br />available for the proposed exchange because some of it comes from inflows and return flows <br />below Hoover Dam -- mostly below Imperial Dam. However, considering that initial diversions <br />are relatively small (multiples of 30,000 or 50,000 ac -ft (36 x 106 - 62 x 106 M3) per year every <br />five to ten years), this should not present a problem. <br />1 8 Carollo Black & Veatch <br />