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ensure stability and predictability within the Basin and continue the productive use and <br />management of the Colorado River. <br />Do we have conflict because we enjoy it? Well, except for a few of the die -hard <br />litigators, the answer is no. We have conflict because of the various needs that compete for a <br />limited resource. <br />Our common purpose must be to reduce the threat of uncertainty and replace it with the <br />opportunities that can emerge from respecting the needs of others. The progress we've made <br />over the past few years has come from squarely addressing the challenges we face. <br />Those of you, who know me, know that I am an optimistic person, though I do recognize <br />that a nice part of being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proved right or <br />pleasantly surprised. <br />On the Colorado River, I'm going to rely on neither optimism nor pessimism. Instead <br />I'm looking realistically at a proven track record of reaching workable solutions - achieved by <br />and with the Basin States - as the basis for my conclusion that we're going to find a productive <br />way through the current set of issues that the drought has highlighted. <br />The track record of finding solutions is well known to many of you, because many of you <br />in this room - and many on this Conference's panels - helped make them happen. Let me briefly <br />review some of the recent history of the Law of the River. <br />II. Examples of Recent Progress on the Colorado River <br />We have many examples in the Colorado River Basin of the benefits that flow from <br />working together. <br />a. Upper Basin <br />In the Upper Basin, we have seen the success of the "Recovery Implementation <br />Program/Recovery Action Program," often referred to as the RIP/RAP. This program brings <br />together federal, state, and local agencies to provide funding, habitat and facilities to address the <br />needs of endangered species. The benefits of the RIP/RAP are particularly critical during times <br />of drought. <br />Another example is shown by the recently adopted 602(a) Interim Storage Guideline <br />adopted for the operation of Lake Powell for the next decade. See 69 Fed. Reg. 28945 (May 19, <br />2004). This guideline represents an important consensus among the seven Basin States and will <br />serve to protect upstream storage in Lake Powell in a manner that respects the rights of both the <br />Upper and Lower Basin. Under the 602(a) Storage Guideline Lake Powell storage will rebound <br />quicker than Lake Mead when there is a return to average or wetter than average flows. <br />Prepared Remarks - Keynote Address 2 <br />Law of the Colorado River <br />