CRWUA 2006 Resolutions and Supporting Position Statements

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• Blue ribbon trout fisheries • River regulation • Economic development • Fish and wildlife propagation and mitigation • Power generation and transmission Funding for repayment of federal investment in the CRSP storage features and participating irrigation projects, and the operation and maintenance of the CRSP facilities and staff of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and the Western Area Power Administration (Western) is provided through power revenues maintained in the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund. A portion of the costs associated with the Colorado River Salinity Control program, the Glen Canyon Adaptive Management Program and the Upper Basin Endangered Fish Recovery Programs are funded through the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund. A combination of reduced generation from the CRSP, costs associated with environmental programs and experiments, and wholesale power market conditions have resulted in unstable, non - sustainable cash flow conditions in the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund. The effective CRSP power rate is increasing while resource deliveries are declining. As hydrologic conditions continue to improve after the recent severe multi -year drought that plagued the Colorado River Basin and most of the western United States during the 1999 through 2004 period, the Bureau of Reclamation should do its utmost to build reservoir conservation storage back to pre - drought conditions in each of the reservoirs which it manages. Resolution No. 2006 -19 - -- MANAGEMENT OF LOWER COLORADO RIVER WATER SUPPLIES The Colorado River Water Users Association calls on the Bureau of Reclamation to expeditiously improve its capability to regulate Colorado River flows at Imperial Dam, and bring the Yuma Desalting Plant (YDP) to operational status. The Colorado River Water Users Association supports construction of a water management reservoir near the All American Canal at the proposed Drop 2 site to replace lost regulation capacity previously available at Senator Wash Reservoir. The CRWUA urges the Administration to include sufficient funding in its budget requests to the Congress to fund the construction of the proposed water management reservoir. The Colorado River Water Users Association believes the excavation of sediments accumulated behind Laguna Dam would be an effective way of supplementing the existing in- stream storage capacity at Imperial Dam. That in- channel storage capacity would help with the regulation of flows released from Parker Dam. The excavation of sediments as contemplated in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement issued for the proposed Lower Colorado River Multi - Species Conservation Program could result in incidental improvements to fish and wildlife habitat between Laguna Dam and Imperial Dam. The Colorado River Water Users Association supports the operation of the YDP and urges the United States to make necessary modifications to the YDP and to make sufficient resources available to bring the YDP into full operation in the shortest possible time. The Colorado River Water Users Association notes these measures are among those included among a suite of water management actions presently being developed by the Basin States to manage the present drought with the objective of avoiding a declaration of shortage in the Lower Basin or minimize its magnitude. Individually, the annual volume of conserved water that would result from improvement of regulation capacity at Imperial Dam and full operation of the YDP would be up to 200,000 acre -feet and approximately 100,000 acre feet, respectively. Furthermore, these water management actions could enhance opportunities for improved management of the waters delivered to Mexico under the 1944 Treaty. Position Statement - -- Management of Lower Colorado River Water Supplies - -- (Resolution No. 2006 -19) 20