Upper Colorado River Commission Meetings 2005 Itinery

• Description: Upper Colorado River Commission Meetings June 28, 29 2005 Itinery
• State: CO
• Date: 6/28/2005
• Title: Upper Colorado River Commission Meetings 2005 Itinery
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Agenda

NEW MEXICO INTERSTATE STREAM COMMISSION
COMMISSION MEMBERS
JIM DUNLAP, Chairman, Farmington
J. PHELPS WHITE, III, Vice- Chairman, Roswell
JOHN R. D'ANTONIO, JR., P.E., Secretary, Santa Fe
BUFORD HARRIS, Mesilla
BLANE SANCHEZ, Bosque Farms
JULIA DAVIS STAFFORD, Cimarron
PATRICIO GARCIA, Rio Chama
JUDITH M. ESPINOSA, Albuquerque
JAMES WILCOX, Carlsbad
Mr. Rick Gold
Regional Director
Bureau of Reclamation
Upper Colorado Regional Office
125 South State Street, Room 6107
Salt Lake City, Utah 84138 -1102
Dear Mr. Gold:
BATAAN MEMORIAL BUILDING, ROOM 101
STATE CAPITOL
POST OFFICE BOX 25102
- Er SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 87504 -5102
(505)827 -6160
FAX:[phone]
May 3, 2005 1' 0­6
8 1 �
.✓
We are very pleased to announce that on April 19, 2005, the State of New Mexico and the
Navajo Nation executed the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico Navajo Nation Water Rights
Settlement Agreement (the Agreement). We anticipate that New Mexico's Congressional
delegation soon will be introducing legislation to approve the Agreement and to authorize the
Navajo - Gallup Water Supply Project (NGWSP).
This letter asks the Secretary to complete, as expeditiously as possible,
e determination required by section 11(a) of the Act of June 13, 1962 (Public Law 87-483), of
whether sufficient water is reasonably likely to be available for serving NGWSP uses in New
Mexico. We appreciate Commissioner Keys' recent commitment regarding this issue, made
during our discussion of the terms of the Settlement at our April meeting in D.C., and his recent
direction that the determination be completed this year.
The existing Hydrologic Determination approved by the Secretary of the Interior on February 2,
1989 (1988 Determination) projects water availability to the year 2040. Because the NGWSP is
not expected to be completed until almost 2020, a contract that would supply water for the
proposed NGWSP to serve the project demands in New Mexico should be based on a
determination that there is sufficient water likely to be available through 2060 from the
apportionment made to the State of New Mexico by the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact.
The Upper Colorado River Commission by Resolution dated June 17, 2003, copy enclosed,
approved the use and accounting of Upper Basin water supplied to the Lower Basin in New
Mexico by the proposed NGWSP. It is our view that the 1988 Determination can be extended to
the year 2060.