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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />---- <br />---- <br />---- <br />--- <br /> <br /> <br />F <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />The Stlltes of (;olorado, New M~xieo, Utall and Wyoming <br />Go,"ernor's Representatives OD Colorado River Opel'ations <br /> <br />Sepll:rnbt:r 27. 2005 <br /> <br />Tho Honotablll C1ale A. Norton <br />St:CIVlary of the Interior <br />1849 C ~lRet, N.W. <br />WllShington DC 20240 <br /> <br />R.e: 2006 Annual Operating }J lall <br /> <br />lJcar Sl:,,-rchu)' Norton: <br /> <br />thlUl.k you for the Ollportunity to review and provide comlllenl~ on the pmposed 2006 Colorado <br />II iver Anllulll Operating Plnn (AD I>) as part ot the Bureau of n.,,:lamation' s formlll cOIl:lullation <br />procell. Tho lJpper Colorado RiVtlr Dasin Sll1lCS and the Uppc:r Colorndo River Commission are <br />vitally inlerel;tediI1LIU1c1aB'Cc:(t:d by,theAMual Operating Plan fnr the Rivor, <br /> <br />We appreciate and concur in the acknowledgement in your letter to the basin SUitllll dated May 2, <br />2005, concerning lbe 2005 mid-year review, that the Departmellt of Interior has, and rotains. the <br />authority to comJuct mid-year reviews when dwelnping anllulll uperating plans for tbe Colorado <br />Kivct. A mid-year review Willi conducted in 200S, and thc option of conducting future midyelU' <br />reviews to adjust relCIISCS from Olen Canyon nam to amounts less than fI.23 miUion acre-feet per <br />ycar is extremely importanl to the lJpp<< Colorado River Dasin. We also agreo with your <br />observlltionll in dlis tcller that previous multi-year llrought~ in the Coloradn River Basin havc <br />seen individulll years of avemge or above lIvcruge flow. As such, we support your prcviOIlli <br />commitment and eurrent pmpnsal for a "lid-year review ill tbc 2006 AOP a.~ shown on page 33 <br />offhe Septembor 15, 2005 draft. <br /> <br />The; mid-year review provisiollll in this AOP are absoluMy neccsslll'Y for proper management of <br />eulordlll) River system stor~e giveR the low reservoir conditions we still tind nur:;elvcs ill <br />today. Following 5 cunsccutive years of record-setting drought, wc bavc had one near averagc <br />year of nmoff. In our opininn, if severe drought conditinns return during the coming wil\tcr allll <br />spring, storage in Lake Powell could reach Icvels that were less than Ihuse at the time of tho 2005 <br />mid-year review. It is I.nn early to declare an end In the droughl by not plannin~ for a possible <br />continuation ufluw nJnoff in thc basill. <br /> <br />The Upper Basin States support the mid-year review lnnguagc propused by the Secretary 011 page <br />33 of the St;pl~'IDber 15, 2005 draft of lhe AOP. Howcvcr, ill lhe ahsence of II 7 allSin Slates <br />1Ij.,'reclllcnl Jor cuuminated operations uf ['aIcesPowcll and Mead during low I'C8crvoir conditions <br />and considering the limitations nf the eurrent Law uf the River, we believc it would he more <br />appropriate, and cllrrect, 10 trigger the mid year n:view ha.~ed solely upon the storage in Lake <br />Pnwell. The recolluncnded mndifictltion of the mid-yel1~ review language shuwn on page 33 uf <br />the September IS, 2UU5 draft is lIS follows: <br />