BOARD00320

• Board Meeting Date: 3/21/2006
• Description: WSP Section - Colorado River Update on 7-State Proposal to Reclamation
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board

Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
www.cwcb.state.co.us

MEMORANDUM

Bill Owens
Governor

TO:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

Russell George
Executive Director

FROM:

Randy Seaholm lJR.K
Chief, Water Supply Protection

Rod Kuharich
CWCB Director

DATE:

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

March 13, 2006

RE:

Agenda Item 6, March 21-22, 2006 Board Meeting: Water Supply
Protection - Colorado River Discussions

Backl!round:
The drought, which began in 1999, resulted in a Lake Powell drawdown of
approximately 16 mafthrough 2004, This left Lake Powell with about 8 maf of live
storage and just over 4 maf of storage above the minimum power pool, which had the
drought continued without any relief could have been lost in one or two years.
Meanwhile, Lake Mead was full enough that surplus releases were being made to the
Lower Bain and Mexico during the first few years of the drought. As a result, the Upper
Division States requested the Secretary of Interior, during the development of the 2005
Annual Operating Plan for Colorado River reservoirs, reduce releases out of Lake Powell.
The Lower Division States strongly resisted and even questioned whether or not the
Secretary had the authority to do so. The Secretary of Interior, while she did not reduce
the releases from Lake Powell, did direct the U.S, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation)
to develop shortage criteria for the Lower Basin and to develop coordinated operating
strategies for Lakes Powell and Mead under low reservoir conditions.

As a result, on June 15,2005, Reclamation published a Federal Register Notice
announcing its intent to solicit comments and hold public meetings on the
development of management strategies for Lakes Powell and Mead under low
reservoir conditions, which strategies would include the development of Lower Basin
Shortage Guidelines. In response, the 7 -Colorado River Basin States sent a letter to
Reclamation on August 25, 2005 indicating the states were discussing ways to utilize
water surface elevations or volumetric contents at both Lakes Powell and Mead to
determine the beginning and end of Lower Basin Shortage Guidelines and operations
under low reservoir conditions. Colorado's negotiating team consisted of Rod