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<br />'" <br /> <br />Agenda Item lla <br />. May 21, 1991 <br /> <br />The contract/consent decree was intended to settle the reserved rights claims out <br />of the Aspinall Unit and avoid a potential lengthy litigation over the quantification of <br />the reserved right. A preliminary agreement between the BOR and the NPS has been <br />drafted which would provide for the following key provisions: <br /> <br />1) Reclamation would release, through a contract, water at no charge to the <br />NPS from storage in the Aspinall Unit. <br /> <br />2) The contract and water delivery would be subject to the Colorado River <br />and Upper Colorado River Compacts and the Law of the River. <br /> <br />3) The amount of water delivered each year would be based on the forecasted <br />inflow to and storage contents of Blue Mesa Reservoir and thus might vary <br />from year to year. <br /> <br />4) Annual Water deliveries would be made to the NPS after senior water <br />rights are met, and an estimated 300,000 aJ. of consumptive use has been <br />reserved in the Aspinall Unit for Colorado water users. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />5) <br /> <br />The amount of water to be delivered would be determined at one or more <br />annual operations meetings between the various parties. <br /> <br />6) The NPS would have the option to pursue quantification of the reserved <br />water right provided that the quantification does not injure or interfere <br />with the purposes of the Aspinall Unit. - <br /> <br />The Bureau would like the Board to be a signatory or concurring party to the <br />contract/consent decree or in the alternative not to object to such an agreement <br />between the Bureau and the NPS. <br /> <br />Discussion <br /> <br />At this stage of negotiations the staff can not determine whether this agreement <br />would adversely affect the interest of the Board. However, a number of issues are of <br />concern to us. These are: <br /> <br />a) The Bureau would reoperate a Colorado River Storage Project reservoir for <br />meeting United States reserved water rights claims; which is not an authorized <br />purpose of CRSP. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />2 <br />