BOARD01617

• Board Meeting Date: 5/19/2003
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Colorado River Reservoirs - 2003 Annual Operating Plan & Imperial Irrigation District v. The
United States: The Secretary of Interior signed the final 2003 AOP on December 16, 2002 following
consultation with the basin states and water users. Repayment provisions for inadvertent ovemms
were added to the 2003 AOP by Interior. The AOP clearly states that if California fails to implement
the QSA by December 31, 2002 that the interim surplus provisions will be suspended until the QSA is
completed.

The Secretary of Interior then issued water orders to all parties indicating the reductions that will occur
as a result of the failure to complete the QSA. MWD, nD, and Nevada will have the consumptive use
allowed under their water orders reduced by 415,100 AJ1, 204,900 AF and 37,171 AF respectively.

A copy" of the AOP is available on Reclamation's Upper Colorado Region Website at
htto://www.uc.usbr.gov/wrg/aop. As a result, lID filed suit asking a federal judge to block the decision
of the Secretary.

Subsequently, Judge Whelan issued a preliminary, injunction blocking implementation of the
Secretary's water orders. ^

On April 16 after receiving additional briefings, Judge Whelan remanded the case back to the
Department of Interior for a de novo Part 417 review.

On April 28 sent revised water orders giving the Imperial Irrigation District the 3,100,000 AF it had
requested and reducing deliveries to the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) from 347,000 AF to
238,200 AF and deliveries to the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) from 713,500 AF to 592,500
AF. Had the QSA been in place, CVWD would have received 347,000 AF and MWD 1,128,600 AF.

On April 29 a federal register notice was issued initiating the part 417 review on the Imperial Irrigation
District's water order regarding its use of Colorado Riv~r water for calendar year 2003. Public input
on the notice will be received for the next 30-days. In a related matter, Nevada and California are
seeking to withdraw nearly 90,000 AF from the Arizona Water Bank. Arizona has indicated that they
may not be able to accommodate such a large request.

2004 Colorado River Annual Operating Plan Meeting: The first consultation meeting for
development of the 2004 Colorado River AOP will be on June 3 at the McCarran International Airport,
Las Vegas, Nevada beginning at 10:00 am. '

Colorado River Reservoir - Coordinated Long-Range Operating Criteria Review: Reclamation
began the 6th 5-year review of the Coordinated Long-Range Operating Criteria in March 2002.
Reclamation continues to discuss internally whether to propose changes to the Criteria. Once a
decision is reached, a Federal Register Notice will be issued containing Reclamation's response and
including any proposed changes. A final comment period following the Federal Register Notice is
currently envisioned. The review was to have been completed by April of this year, but nothing has
been noticed to date. It has also been rumored that environmental groups are giving a high priority to
filing a lawsuit concerning the Criteria.

Defenders of Wildlife v. Secretary, Department ofl\lterior, et al. CA No. 00-1544 (JR): This
lawsuit, bought by four American and four Mexican environmental groups, alleges violations of the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) by the Bureau of Rechimation, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the
National Marine Fisheries Service, in connection with Reclamation's management of the lower
Colorado River.

In particular, it alleges the defendants failed to satisfy consultation requirements of the ESA with
regard to protected species found in the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. Both parties have moved for
summary judgment. .
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