BOARD00943

• Board Meeting Date: 11/22/1999
• Description: WSP Section - Colorado River Basin Issues - Offstream Storage of Colorado River Water - Development and Release of Intentionally Created Unused Apportionment in the Lower Division States - Final Rule
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
, 313 Sherman Street
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: (3D3) 866-3441
FAX, [phone]

STATE OF COLOMDO

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MEMORANDUM

Bill Owens
Governor

TO:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members

Greg E. Walcher
Executive Director, ONR
Peter H, Evans
Director, eWeB

FROM: Randy Seaholm ~
Chief, Interstate Streams Investigations

DATE: November 17, 1999

SUBJECT: Agenda Item 20f, November 2:2-23, 1999 Board Meeting-
Colorado River Issues - Offstrcam Storage of Colorado River Water;
Development and Release ofIrttentionally Created Unused Apportionment
in the Lower Division States; Final Rule

Backl!round

The "7\ I 0 Negotiations" that began in 1992 were necessitated by the Lower Basin States
approaching full compact development. It has been the goal of the Upper Basin States
during these negotiations to limit the use of water in the Lower Basin of the Colorado
River to the entitlements set forth in the Colorado River Compact and further defined in
the Boulder Canyon Project Act and the decree in Arizona v California. In achieving
this goal, the Upper Basin States will protect their Colorado River water allocations. The
major issues under consideration at this time are:
I. Getting California to fully develop and implement a plan to reduce their use of
Colorado River water to the 4.4 mafthey are allowed;
2. Implementation of rules governing the, "Offstream Storage of Colorado River
Water; Development and Release ofIntentionally Created Unused
Apportionment in the Lower Division States;" and
3. Development of criteria for determining surplus and shortage water conditions
on the Colorado River.

This memorandum addresses item number 2. A proposed rule was noticed in the Federal
Register on December 31, 1997 . We discussed this proposed rule with Board at its
January 28-29, 1998 meeting (Agenda Item 29b). Based in part on that discussion
Colorado submitted formal comments to Reclamation by letter from Jim Lochhead dated
April 2, 1998. The Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on November I,
1999.