BOARD00582

• Board Meeting Date: 5/19/2003
• Description: WSP Section - Ruedi Reservoir - Proposed Contract to Deliver 10,825 AF Annually to Endangered Fish in the 15-Mile Reach Through 2012
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

d. WHEREAS, as described in the letter dated December 20, 2002, to the Chairman,
Management Committee, Upper Colorado Fish Recovery Program, from the Area Manager, -
Eastern Colorado Area Office, Great Plains Region, Bureau of Reclamation, and confirmed by -
return letter to the Regional Director, Great Plains Region, dated April 24, 2003, Reclamation
will absorb the capital costs (plus interest) of the wa~er provided pursuant to this Agreement; and
the Recovery Program will report the capital costs sri .absorbed as a Reclamation contribution to
the Recovery Program, made in addition to its other eost share commitments; and the Recovery
Program will pay the annual Operation and Maintenl/oIlce (O&M) costs associated with the water;
and

e. WHEREAS, Section 4 of the Fry-Ark Act directs the Secretary to investigate, plan, construct,
operate, and maintain facilities for the conservation and development of fish and wildlife
resources, and that the costs of such undertakings slutll be nonreimbursable and nonreturnable
under Reclamation laws; and

f. WHEREAS, Section S(e) of the Fry-Ark Act dirdcts the Secretary in the operation and
maintenance of all facilities of the Project to comply with the laws of the State of Colorado
relating to the control, appropriation, use, and distribution of water therein; including those laws
of the State of Colorado relating to the establishment ofinstream flows for the reasonable
protection of the natural environment to the extent that such laws are not inconsistent with the
Operating Principles; and

g. WHEREAS, Ruedi Reservoir, located on the FrYingpan River upstream of the town of
Basalt, was authorized and constructed as a feature cifthe Project; and e

h. WHEREAS, the Operating Principles provide that water stored in the Regulatory Capacity of
Ruedi Reservoir may be sold or leased by the United States to water users in Colorado for any
purpose recognized by the laws of the United States; and

i. WHEREAS, the Supplemental Decree for the PrQject entered by the Garfield County District
Court, Colorado, in Civil Action 4613 on August 3, ~9S9, allows water stored in the Regulatory
Capacity ofRuedi Reservoir to be sold or leased by the United States to water users in western
Colorado for any purpose recognized by the laws ofithe United States; and

j. WHEREAS, the Marketable Yield within the Re$ulatory Capacity ofRuedi Reservoir
includes water that has not been committed to long-term contracts and that has been released, on
a temporary basis, to benefit endangered fish in the ts Mile Reach of the Colorado River; and

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k. WHEREAS, the CWCB is authorized by Section! 37-92-102(3), Colorado Revised Statutes, as
amended, to acquire by lease from any person, inclulllng any governmental entity, such water or
interests in water as the CWCB determines may be required for instream flows to preserve or
improve the natural environment to a reasonable degree and to take whatever action may be
needed to ensure such instream flows remain in the river; and

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