BOARD02414

• Board Meeting Date: 9/25/2000
• Description: Directors' Reports
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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San Juan and Dolores River Basin Issues

San Juan Depletion Allowance Letter Sent: On Sept. 6 we sent a letter to Ralph Morgenweck,a
USFWS Regional Director, asking his agency to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) .,
regarding future water development in the Colorado portion of the San Juan River Basin under the San
Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program (SJRRIP). You approved sending this letter at your
May meeting. We were asked to delay sending the letter by the Southwest Water Conservation District
that expressed its desire to discuss this issue in more detail before renewing its request for the letter this
summer. The letter requested

1. That the CWCB and the USFWS enter into a MOA that defines how the SJRRIP will provide ESA
compliance for future depletions for at least the next 25 years.

1. That the USFWS conduct a Section 7 consultation on the MOA and develop a Programmatic
Biological Opinion (PBO) to address ESA compliance for those future depletions.

We anticipate that the MOA would address future depletions in the San Juan Basin in a similar
manner as the Colorado River Basin PBO addresses future water needs in the Upper Colorado River
Basin. We anticipate that the PBO would be triggered by the USFWS's execution of the MOA. We
believe that the MOA, accompanying consultation and the programmatic biological opinion will increase
certainty both for the recovery of endangered fish in the San Juan River Basin and for future water
development.

We also requested a meeting to discuss these issues.

In the meantime, we have been successful, with the help of water users and Reclamation, in
establishing a "Hydrology Committee" for the SJRRIP. The SJRIP Coordination Committee will be
meeting on September 19 in Farmington, New Mexico. This meeting will address the work plan for the e
commg year.

Navajo Dam Operations: The Navajo Dam operations coordination meeting was held Aug. 22.
The April-July inflow was 337,000 acre-feet or 43 percent of average. Dam operations will maintain
500 cfs at the Bluff gage throughout the fall and winter. Maintenance and repairs to the 2-72 inch
hollow jet valves will occur prior to spring runoff limiting releases to a maximum of 2,800 cfs and the
reservoir has been lowered to 6072 or less to provide a storage cushion during these repairs.

Interior Secreatry Urged to Sign ALP Settlement Agreement: On Sept. 5 Governor Bill
Owens and Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar wrote to Interior Secreatry Bruce Babbitt urging him
to sign the final Tribal settlement package for the Animas-La Plata (ALP) project. They also specifically
asked the United States to enter a favorable Record of Decision on the latest EIS (published on July 14).

The settlement agreement outlines the construction of a scaled-back Animas-La Plata project to
provide water to the Indian and non-Indian communities in southern Colorado and New Mexico.

Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Representative Scott McInnis introduced legislation this
past year to construct a scaled-down Animas-La Plata project. The legislation provides for a 120,000-
acre Ridges Basin Reservoir and a $40 million development fund for use by the Tribes. The reduced
project provides only municipal and industrial water to the Ute Tribes, the Navajo Nation and the local
cities and water districts. No irrigation water will be provided.

If the Animas-La Plata project is not approved and implemented by January 2005, the Tribes
have the option of commencing litigation or renegotiating their reserved right claims. e.

The legislation to amend the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act and authorize a
new Animas-La Plata (A-LP) Project in Colorado and New Mexico has been cleared for House and

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