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<br />'. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. __~-r' _ <br /> <br />a much more limited extent. If reservoir conditions continue to deteriorate, additional cuts in use <br />by CAP will be required. <br /> <br />VI. Overrun Accountinl! <br />The Draft California 4.4 Plan includes a provision that allows individual entitlement <br />holders to exceed their yearly apportionment. The proposed overrun would be constrained by a <br />maximum allowable accrual and would be subject to repayment in subsequent years. The overrun <br />accounting provision is tied to the administration of agricultural entitlements. <br />The Six States are concerned with the overrun provisions. First, as the Colorado River <br />enters into an era of limits, the States expect the Bureau of Reclamation to strictly enforce its <br />contracts and the entitlements, In essence, within the Lower Basin, the Bureau must play the role <br />of the State Engineer and enforce current limits on diversions by water users, Secondly, the Six <br />States are leery of proposals that would allow significant diversions above the amount of water <br />allowed to a state in shortage, normal, or limited surplus years according to the proposal <br />descnbed in this paper. It would be extremely inequitable to allow California agricultural districts <br />to overrun their diversions by 10%, which is over 300,000 acre feet, while at the same time calling <br />for the Central Arizona Project to reduce diversions by 500,000 acre feet because a shortage had <br />been declared. <br />In spite of these significant concerns, the Six States do recognize that there may be limited <br />occasions when inadvertent overruns will occur, Due to the fact that the annual entitlement of a <br />junior priority district is dependent on the actual use by a senior priority user, there may be <br />occasions when a district will order water only to find out later that it had exceeded its contract <br />entitlement. This matter is further compounded in the Lower Basin because a state's <br />apportionment is for consumptive use rather tha!l diversions. Until the books are reconciled to <br />calculate diversions less measured and unmeasured return flows, it may not be possible to know <br />whether or not an overrun has occurred until the after-the-fact accounting is completed, <br />The Six States propose that a limited fonn of overrun accounting be instituted. It must be <br />based on the following principles: <br />1.) Overruns must be inadvertent. <br /> <br />12 <br />