BOARD02003

• Board Meeting Date: 3/20/2000
• Description: WSP Section - Arkansas River Basin Issues - Status of Accounting Issues at Pueblo, Trinidad, and John Martin Reservoirs
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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STATE OF COLORADO

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Colorado Water Conservation Board

Department of Na tura I Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]

Q)

MEMORANDUM

Bill Owens
Governor

DATE:
SUBJECT:

Colorado Water Conset'{<tlion Board Members
Steve Miller &-t'.-l~
Interstate Streams and Hydrologic Investigations Section
March 15,2000
Agenda Item 24.c. March 20-21 2000 Board Meeting _ Dan McAuliffe
, " De~ty Dir~tor
Arkansas River Basin Issues - Status of Accounting Issues at ....ueblo,
Trinidad, and John Martin Reservoirs

Greg E.Walcher
Executive Director

TO:
FROM:

Peter H. Evans
eWeB Director

INTRODUCTION

This agenda item is informational only to briefly update the Board on issues related to the
Arkansas River Compact surrounding the operation of several reservoirs in the basin.

. BACKGROUND

The 1948 Arkansas River Compact allocates the benefits of John Martin Reservoir [JMR]
to water users above and below JMR in the states of Kansas and Colorado. Originally, the
benefits of JMR were allocated through fixed maximum reservoir release rates during the
irrigation season and certain restrictions on priority calls being placed against water users
above the reservoir. The Compact also established the Arkansas. River Compact
Administration [ARCA] and requires it to report annually on "matters within its purview".
The director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board [CWCB], along with two citizens
from the Basin, represents the State of Colorado on the ARCA. Board staff by tradition has
drafted the ARCA Annual Report and supervised its printing and distribution.

In 1980 an Operating Plan for John Martin Reservoir was adopted by ARCA establishing
an account system which encouraged ditches below JMR in Colorado and Kansas to
preserve water that otherwise would have been released from the reservoir until such times
as it could be most beneficially used. The 1980 Plan mimics JMR operations under the
Compact, without the rapid exhaustion of conservation storage that often occurred under
the maximum release rates allowed by the Compact. The 1980 Plan required lengthy
negotiation both between the States, and amongst water users in Colorado. The Plan may
be revoked by either state upon timely notice, but because of the substantial benefits it
provides to water users in both states has remained in continuous operation since 1984.

. The 1980 account system necessitated the creation of the position of ARCA Operations