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<br />! <br /> <br />In his House testimony, Mr. Wilkinson discussed the need for continued maintenance and modernization <br />of Reclamation facilities, including the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. . <br /> <br />Colorado Senators and Representatives Introduce Bills Relating to Facilities Conveyed to the <br />Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District: U.S. Senators Allard and Salazar introduced Senate <br />Bill 1498 to direct the Secretary ofthe Interior to convey certain water distribution facilities to the <br />Northern Water Conservancy District. The bill was sent to the Committee on Energy and Natural <br />Resources. See p. S8949, Congressional References, Volume 151, July 26, 2005 for more information <br />Representatives Musgrave and Udall introduced House Resolution 3462 on the same issue. See H6650, <br />Congressional References, Volume 151, July 26, 2005 for more information. <br /> <br />Rio Grande Basin <br /> <br />State Enters Compact Restrictions on Rio Grande: The Bureau of Reclamation was notified by the <br />New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission on August 24th that the state has again entered Article VII <br />restrictions under the Rio Grande Compact. <br /> <br />The compact prohibits storage of water in reservoirs above Elephant Butte built after 1929 when the <br />combined level of usable project storage water in Reclamation owned Elephant Butte and Caballo <br />Reservoirs falls below 400,000 acre-feet. <br /> <br />The storage content was about 399,900 acre-feet on Wednesday morning. <br />Only EI Vado and two Santa Fe reservoirs fall under the restrictions. However, Reclamation officials said <br />the restrictions will have no immediate impact on their El Vado Reservoir because its inflow currently is <br />not high enough to allow storage. <br /> <br />Reclamation anticipates that the water levels in Elephant Butte and Caballo Reservoirs will again rise <br />after this irrigation season ends. The state was under the Article VII restrictions from July 2002 until May <br />2005 when water levels at the reservoirs rose above 400,000. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Flooding Halts Power Generating at Elephant Butte Plant: A rainstorm that dropped between two and <br />three inches ofrain in an hour on the night of August 21 st near the Elephant Butte Reservoir has forced <br />the Bureau of Reclamation to stop generating power at its plant downstream from the dam. <br /> <br />Culverts in the area were unable to handle the water as it rushed down the canyon and eventually flooded <br />the parking area near the power plant. The system automatically shut down as water gushed under the <br />door and soaked the electric system. This triggered an emergency notice to Reclamation employees, who <br />arrived just after midnight to find two feet of muddy water blocking the power plant door. They worked <br />through that to enter the soaked power plant, but were unable to get back on the grid with the power plant <br />because the transformers were wet. <br /> <br />The small plant generates about 29,000 kilowatts of power that is marketed by the Western Area Power <br />Administration. Officials <br /> <br />San Juan/Dolores River Basin <br /> <br />Dolores River Dialogue Update: The Dolores River Dialogue is a process involving water users, <br />environmental groups, recreational interests, and local, state and federal agencies. The Dialogue was <br />formed to explore the possibilities of better managing the water resources in the Dolores River Basin to . <br />everyone's benefit. At the last update a Core Science Group had been formed to look into the river <br /> <br />24 <br />