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- 2 - < irrigation to replacement storage for salinity control and fish and wildlife propagation in McPhee Reservoir. The Dolores Water Conservancy District ("District") operates McPhee Reservoir as . part of the Dolores Project, using water stored in McPhee Reservoir for irrigation, municipal and industrial use, recreation, fish and wildlife, and production of hydroelectric power. After consolidation of the two applications, the Division 4 Water Court entered a decree in both cases on February 5, 1986 ("1986 Decree"). The Court found that the changed water rights' average annual consumptive use was 924 acre-feet. The 1986 Decree provides that Reclamation may store the consumptive use amount of the changed water rights in McPhee Reservoir and use that water to replace out-of-priority depletions in the Dolores River resulting from out-of-priority pumping of one or more wells at the Unit. Releases will be made from McPhee Reservoir to replace said depletions along with the necessary transportation losses as assessed by the Division Engineer for Division 4. However, the decree permits Reclamation to store the changed water rights in McPhee Reservoir only during the historic use period when the water rights are in priority, and only when there is adequate space available in McPhee Reservoir, "so as to provide that Dolores Project supplies will not be reduced." The 1986 Decree further provides that if the storage in McPhee Reservoir allocated to the plan for augmentation is exhausted and Reclamation is unable to provide a substitute supply of replacement water, the Unit wells shall be subject to administration and curtailment in accordance with the priority system. The CWCB was an objector in Case Nos. 83CW45 and 83CW14 and stipulated to the entry of the decree. However, neither the CWCB's statement of opposition nor the stipulation or decree specifically addressed the Dolores River ISF. Under the above-mentioned limitations in the decree, the changed water rights have not always . yielded 924 acre-feet per year and Reclamation has not been able to fully replace out-of-priority depletions resulting from pumping Unit wells every year. To address this situation, Reclamation and the District have developed a proposed allocation of downstream releases from McPhee Reservoir that would guarantee Reclamation 700 acre-feet per year of water to be released for augmentation of out-of-priority depletions from well pumping at the Unit. The proposed allocation will be documented in a written agreement between the District and Reclamation. Reclamation and the District entered into an interim operating agreement for 2005 providing for 700 acre-feet to be released from McPhee Reservoir to augment the Unit's out-of-priority depletions. Iniurv with Mitil!ation Proposal 1. Current and Potential Iniurv to the Dolores River ISF Typically, the Unit is in priority one to two months a year, and the Unit's out-of-priority depletions have averaged about 240 acre-feet per year. The Division Engineer for Water Division 4 estimates that approximately 315 acre-feet of the 700 acre-feet released from McPhee Reservoir would reach the Unit to replace out-of-priority depletions. While the amount of augmentation water to be released appears to be sufficient to cover the Unit's annual out-of- priority depletions, the releases may not always match the timing of the Unit's depletions, which could injure the Dolores River ISF. Further, the potential exists for Reclamation to increase the operation of the Unit from 325 days a year to 365 days a year if the need to pump more brine ground water arises, which could result in additional out-of-priority depletions. It is important to . Flood Protection. Water Project Planning and Finance. Stream and Lake Protection Water Supply Protection. Conservation Planning