Southwest Hydrology: The Resource of Semi-Arid Hydrology Volume 4 Number 2

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Upper Basin, continued form page 18 predict whether the water surface elevation of Lake Powell will continue to decline or if it will rise this year due to improved runoff. It will take more than a decade of average flows to refill Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Power Generation Concerns With one or two more severely dry years, the water surface elevation of Lake Powell could fall below the minimum power pool. The turbines at Glen Canyon Dam provide the vast majority of Colorado River Storage Project power. Power supplied to approximately 200 municipalities would have to be replaced at approximately double the cost if power is not generated at Lake Powell. In addition, power generation revenues that support operation and maintenance costs for US Bureau of Reclamation projects, pumping costs for many irrigation projects, principal and interest payment on the debt for project construction, and various environmental projects critical to operation of Upper Basin reservoirs would be lost. Agriculture Feels Impacts Agriculture in the Upper Basin already has been significantly curtailed for several years due to the unavailability of water. Agriculture in the basin upstream from the reservoirs depends upon live streamflow; further down, farmers and ranchers count on reservoir storage. During this drought, some of the Upper Basin storage that historically has helped buffer the effects of droughts was significantly depleted. Overall, estimates of total curtailed water supply may be in the range of 600,000 to 900,000 acre -feet in a given year. Significant economic losses have accompanied the curtailments. Future Actions The Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC), comprised of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, believes it is now urgent to begin discussions on how the system will operate during drought and shortages such as currently exist. These conditions are likely to occur more frequently in the future as development and uses increase. Clearly, there is not the firm supply of water in the Colorado River that was assumed when the 1922 Compact was signed. Therefore, the UCRC requested an April review of the Annual Operating Plan, once more accurate spring runoff forecasts are available, to determine if the annual Lake Powell release volume for this year should be reduced. As reservoirs decline to unprecedented levels, the Upper Basin needs to know the minimum annual release from Lake Powell to the Lower Basin, based on Compact accounting, and if there is a deficiency, as defined by the Compact, in meeting the requirements of the Mexican Treaty of 1944. The surplus flows common until several years ago diminished the need for accounting to demonstrate the Lake Powell release requirements according to the Compact, and to date, no such accounting has been performed. Even strict Compact accounting may not be enough in the current drought. UCRC plans to proactively and cooperatively Proven, Low -Cost, In -Situ Groundwater Remediation Solutions • Oxygen Release Compound (ORCI) • Advanced Formula Oxygen Release Compound (ORC AdvancedTMI • Hydrogen Release Compound (HRVI • [Extended Formula] Hydrogen Release Compound (HRC -X11 • Metals Remedlation Compound (MRC°) • Bio- Dechlor INOCULUM (BDITmi Find out what a difference our Controlled Release Technology (CRTT"') can make at your site! ..asti t C 7.. L01 LFR LEVINE•FRICKE For a FREE application design Contact us at (9491366-8000 REGENESIS www.regenesis.com via, - 4 P. Today, both municipalities and industry recognize the need for strategic water resource planning to sustain growth and development. LFR Levine-Fricke has experts in water resources and water supply and will help you with your planning needs. We provide the following services: Groundwater resource evaluation and basin Assured water supply planning and development inventory analysis Litigation support for water rights and Modeling of groundwater and surface water resource damage flow systems • Water quality evaluation and treatment Wellhead and aquifer source protection (including Arsenic) PLEASE VISIT US AT WWW.LFR.COM OR CALL US AT 480.905.9311 March /April 2005 • Southwest Hydrology • 29