BOARD00519

• Board Meeting Date: 5/19/2003
• Description: WSP Section - Navajo Gallup Resolution
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Agenda Item 26 - Gallup-Navajo Project
May 19-20,2003 Board Meeting
Page50f 10

Of the estimated 37,764 AFIYR of project diversions, approximately 35,893 AFIYR would be
consumptively used. Of the 37,764 AF\YR of diversions, the City of Gallup would receive 7,500
AFIYR and the Jicarilla Apaches would receive 1,200 AFIYR. The City of GalJup and some of the
Navajo lands in New Mexico are located in the Little Colorado River Basin, a Lower Basin tributary
of the Colorado River. Also, some of the Navajo lands served in New Mexico are located in the Rio
Grande Basin. Navajo lands to be served in Arizona are all located in the Little Colorado River
Basin and would receive 6,4lJ AFIYR of project water. Recent discussions have been centered
around a New Mexico only project that would deplete 26,000 AF\YR of which only 13,000
AFIYR would be exported from the Upper Colorado River Basin (12,000 AF\YR to the Little
Colorado and 1,000 AFlYR to the Rio Grande).

Pursuant to the Upper Colorado River Compact, the water apportioned to the Upper Basin
States is allocated as follows:

Arizona
Colorado
New Mexico
Utah
Wyoming

7.5MAF
50,000
3,855,375
838,125
1,713,500
1,043,000

6.0MAF
50,000
3,079,125
669,375
1,368,500
833,000

50,000 AFlannum
51.75%
11.25%
23.00%
14.00%

Reclamation's current hydrologic determination of water available to the Upper Basin is only 6.0
MAF, significantly less than the 7.5 MAF apportioned under the Colorado River Compact.
Colorado does not accept this determination, but has acquiesced to its use for water resource
planning and certain administrative purposes. Both New Mexico and Arizona have contractually
obligated all the water apportioned to them under the current hydrologic determination. New
Mexico's consumptive use of Colorado River water at build-out, including the Navajo-Gallup
Project, was initially estimated to be approximately 695,000 AF.

New Mexico has just completed a detailed review of their consumptive use values and
now believes that Navajo-Gallup can be completed within their compact apportionment under
the current hydrologic determination of 6.0 MAF. New Mexico estimates current consumptive
uses are approximately 508,000 AF\YR and that includes its share of Colorado River Storage
Project (CRSP) reservoir evaporation. We have reviewed the revised numbers and believe
they may understate New Mexico's future uses because they assume 5% of the irrigated
acreage will be fallow in any given year (Section 7 consultations with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service use the full irrigated acreage by contrast). Furthermore, New Mexico has a long-
standing history of utilizing the original Blaney-Criddle method for compnting consnmptive
nse. These results tend to be approximately 5% less than the values obtained by the Modified
Blaney-Criddle method utilized in the rest of the Upper Basin.

Arizona's consumptive use of Colorado River water at build-out is estimated to be in excess
of 50,000 AF. Arizona's current consumptive uses are approximately 46,000 AFIYR. Thus, Arizona
and possibly New Mexico may need to rely on unused Upper Basin apportionment in Colorado and
Wyoming for contracting purposes, or have a contract with another instate water user to cover any
shortages. Such a contract could take the form of a "Depletion Limit Guarantee" under which the
Navajo Nation would agree to operate its projects (Navajo-Gallup, Navajo Indian Irrigation Project,
Hogback-Cuedi and Fruitland) collectively in a manner that would not cause New Mexico to exceed
Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Financing. Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation Planning