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<br />Arkansas River Basin <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Pueblo RICD: The Pueblo RICD trial has been scheduled for a one-week trial, starting June 5, 2006. <br /> <br />Chaffee County RICD: .The Chaffee County RICD continued hearing and deliberations has been <br />rescheduled for the Board's November hearing. This Board approved this delay at the July Board <br />meeting, so that the parties can continue to explore settlement possibilities. The trial for this case has <br />been scheduled for October 2006. <br /> <br />Colorado River Basin <br /> <br />Arizona Braces for Water Legal BattIe: Arizona hopes to create a $1.5 million legal defense fund to <br />protect its Colorado River allocation in case a simmering dispute among neighboring states turns into a <br />regional water war. A worst-case loss in court could force the state to give up half of the water that flows <br />through the Central Arizona Project canal and leave it in reservoirs to benefit upstream users or satisfy a <br />treaty with Mexico. Most of that water is now reserved for cities in Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties or <br />set aside to settle claims with Indian tribes. <br /> <br />Representatives from all seven Colorado River states met Thursday, August 25th, in San Diego to <br />consider a plan that might solve some of the issues without legal action. The states agreed to a letter <br />submitting their proposals to Interior Secretary Gale Norton as part of a larger effort to create a long-term <br />drought plan for the Colorado. <br /> <br />Arizona Department of Water Resources has come up with the first $200,000 for the defense fund, and . <br />Arizona will ask boards governing the CAP and Salt River Project to contribute similar amounts. A fund- <br />raising committee will then seek donations from others with a stake in the river, including cities and home <br />builders. <br /> <br />There have been long-standing arguments over how the river and its tributaries are divided among users. <br />In states along the upper river -- which include Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah -- water <br />taken from tributaries is counted against the states' shares. In states on the lower river -- Arizona, Nevada <br />and California -- tributaries are currently not included in the accounting. That allows Arizona, the primary <br />beneficiary to the difference in rules, to use water from the Salt and Verde rivers and still take a full share <br />of the Colorado mainstem. In recent years, Colorado and other upper river states have argued that the <br />lower river states have abused the rule and, as a result, take more than they should. <br /> <br />Colorado River Annual Operating Plan (AOP) and Related issues: On August 23n1, Reclamation met <br />with the Colorado River Management Workgroup to further develop the 2006 AOP. Current hydrologic <br />conditions in the basin suggest that Reclamation pursuant to the Interim Surplus Guidelines will declare a <br />"Partial Domestic Surplus" available to the Lower Basin. The Upper Basin and Lower Basin remain at <br />odds over the appropriateness of a mid-year review in 2006, which the Secretary of Interior indicated <br />would be performed in her May 2, 2005 letter concerning the 2005 mid-year review. The Lower Basin <br />has taken the position that a mid-year review in 2006 is not necessary and even if one might be necessary, <br />the Secretary doesn't have the authority to make it. The Upper Basin States have taken the position that <br />reservoir storage, particularly in Lake Powell, remains sufficiently low that such a review should be made <br />and that Secretary has the necessary authority to make one. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />18 <br />