BOARD00936

• Board Meeting Date: 1/25/2005
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Total System active storage as of Jan. 9 was 29.887 million acre-feet (mat) or 50 percent of capacity, .
which is 2.967 mafless than one year ago. Pursuant to the Interim Surplus Guidelines (ISG), the Lower
Division States' consumptive use of Colorado River water for calendar year 2004 will be based on a partial
domestic surplus.

The preliminary end-of-year measure for 2003 California agricultural consumptive use of Colorado River
water under the first three priorities and the sixth priority of the 1931 California Seven Party Agreement
was measured as 3.750 maf.

The target under the ISG for the end of2003 was 3.740 maf, thus California was in substantial
compliance with the ISG. Tracking of use in 2004 is shown below with forecasted uses at the end of
2004 of approximately 3.530 MAF. California agricultural uses must be reduced to 3.64 MAF by the
end of2006.

Glen Canyon Adaptive Management Program: Governor Owens has reappointed Rod Kuharich and
Randy Seaholm to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program's Adaptive Management
Workgroup and Technical Workgroup respectively.

Also, the experimental high-test flows conducted during the latter part of November did result in the
creation of significant sand bars and the creation of new backwaters. We are awaiting the results of the
studies done in conjunction with the high flow test to evaluate the full extent. The next several years will
demonstrate whether or not these sand bars will last any longer than the previous ones created during the
1996 high flows.

Furthermore, since Jan. 1, the Paria River and other Marble Canyon tributaries have supplied between 1.0
and 1.4 million metric tons of sand. During this same period, the Little Colorado River has supplied
approximately 230,000 metric tons of sand. If December is included, these numbers rise to 1.2 to 1.4
million and 300,000 metric tons of sand, respectively. The LCR at Cameron as of Jan. 12 was flowing
approximately 1,000 cfs and rising, so further LCR inputs are occurring and more are possible in the
coming week as rising temperatures induce further snowmelt.

In terms of total fine sediment, preliminary model estimates indicate the Paria and other Marble Canyon
tributaries have supplied about 3.6 million metric tons (+-40%) since Jan. I and the LCR has supplied in
the range of 2 million metric tons.

Bear in mind that these numbers are inputs only and do not reflect ongoing export of fine sediment.
Under the current 5 to 20 kcfs fluctuations, almost all silt and clay will most likely be exported almost
immediately. For sand, we have previously shown that the time to export half of the input of a 500,000
metric ton input is on the order of a few months for normal dam operations, so we can expect these recent
inputs to be exported fairly rapidly under the 5 to 20 kcfs fluctuations now occurring to disadvantage the
trout population.

It is worth pointing out that simultaneous large inputs by the Paria and LCR are rare. Thus, the recent
sequence of inputs may provide a unique opportunity to further test sandbar response to another high-flow
test under relatively enriched conditions in both Marble and Grand Canyons and will certainly receive
some discussion in the near future.

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Southwest Rains: Despite record rainfall and snowfall in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, the
effects of the current drought may still continue for some time. However, the heavy rains have resulted in
Reclamation reducing its releases from Parker dam by almost two-thirds, and as a result the current
elevation of Lake Havasu is near its maximum elevation.

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