BOARD01617

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

replacement activities of the project. By consensus, the POC will be an oversight committee for the
Operating Entity. Reclamation would contract directly with the Operating Entity selected by the POCo
The POC is working on a fmal version of the bylaws and a draft O&M Transfer Agreement, which
would be between Reclamation and the Operating Entity.

The O&M Transfer Agreement would specify the relationship between the POC, Operating Entity and
Reclamation. A subcommittee was formed to draft the O&M Transfer Agreement consisting of one
representative each from Reclamation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Southem Ute Indian Tribe, ALP
District and San Juan Water Commission. A draft O&M Transfer Agreement has been prepared and
submitted to the POCo The subcommittee also worked 'on the POC Agreement; there are still several
sections on which the subcommittee does not agree. Reclamation will redraft some sections, run the
changes past their Solicitor, and provide them to the subcommittee. The subcommittee met on April 18
to continue work on the draft documents. Reclamation stressed the inlportance of having an O&M
Transfer Agreement in place prior to completion of the Project so the Operating Entity can be involved
during construction and initial operations during reservoir filling. The next meeting is scheduled for
May 16, 2003 in Durango at 9:30 a.m.

Project construction remains on schedule; site preparation for the pumping plant began in March, with
excavation for the dam's footprint to begin in late summer of2003. Reclamation has $35 million
available this fiscal year and the budget request for next year is $58 million. Also, the CWCB has
been cooperating with the Attorney General and others as necessary in the modifications to the project
water rights necessitated by the passage of the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act
Amendments of2000.

A hearing is set on certain legal motions for June 6th, finally, as a result oflast years drought, the San
Juan Water Commission has asked Colorado if it might be interested in selling some of CGlorado's
allocated project storage. La Plata County has made a similar request of the Board.

San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program: The Coordination Committee will have a
conference call in late Mayor early June to discuss the following: rearing ponds (new ponds, request
for proposals, and where this is headed), Hydrologic conditions (The Hydrology Committee during its
April 1 meeting determined this is was another extremely dry year in the San Juan and asked what we
need to do, if anything, as a Program), and receive an ,update from the Budget subcommittee. Work
also continues on revisions to the Long-Range Plan. Finally, the Biology Committee met on May 6th
to review next year's scopes of work.

Navajo Dam and Reservoir Re-operations EIS: In response to the San Juan River Recovery
Implementation Program's flow recommendations for'the San Juan River, Reclamation is preparing an
EIS on the re-operation of Navajo Dam to meet those flow recommendations. The CWCB has been
participating as a cooperating agency. The DEIS public comment period ended on December 4, 2002.
350 comment letters were received and Reclamation is now in the process of writing responses and
making necessary document revisions. The completion schedule now shows that a final EIS will be
released in September 2003 and the Record of Decisibn completed by the end of the year. A
Preliminary Final EIS (PFEIS) will be provided to the cooperating agencies in late May, with fmal
comments due by July I st. A final cooperating agency meeting will be held during the first 2 weeks of
July in Farmington. Maintaining the temporary base ;flow of 350 cfs through critical habitat continues
given the drought conditions.

Rio BIanco Steam Habitat Enhancement Project Update: In late March, the U. S. Army Corps of
Engineers approved the CWCB' s request for a Nationwide Permit 27 (NWP-27 in lieu of Section 404
Permit) for the Rio Blanco Restoration and Stream Habitat Enhancement Project (Project). (Obtaining

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