BOARD02588

• Board Meeting Date: 5/24/1999
• Description: Directors' Reports
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

.

.

.

.

,

additional in-basin consumptive use in the Gunnison River Basin. This contract protects water
users in the Gunnison River Basin above Crystal Dam from being curtailed by a Reclamation
power or storage calL The proposal does not fully consider the market yield from Aspinall of
300,000 AF, or how the proposal will impact the Biological Opinions for the Dallas Creek
Reservoir or the Dolores Project, or how it will interact with the Aspinall Section 7 consultation,
These issues must be addressed.

Black Canyon Legislation: As we agreed in March, I have written to Senator Campbell
(copy attached) expressing the CWCB's support for the water rights language in Section 10 ofS.
323, the Black Canyon National Park and Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area Act of
1999. The Colorado General Assembly also adopted a position on the proposed legislation in the
form of a House Joint Resolution (copy attached).

The Senator's staff advises that meetings with environmental groups in Washington may
lead to revisions to this section that seek to clarify that the 1933 water right for the Monument
will be transferred to the NPS and we will watch this effort very carefully, This will probably
require that we bring additional information directly to our May meeting,

Rio Grande River Basin

Closed Basin Project operation and rights of way: We just received word from the
Interior Department Solicitor's Office that the revised terms governing any future abandonment
of the rights of way are acceptable to the federal government and we hope to get the as-built
legal descriptions for the last three phases of the project and pay the State Land Board for the
rights of way very soon. Special thanks to Linda Bassi for persistent persistence!

Rio Grande Supplemental Water for Endangered Species: Reclamation's
Albuquerque Area Office has begun its program to release supplemental water through the
middle Rio Grande valley to assist in the support of endangered species, particularly the Rio
Grande silvery minnow. Dry conditions throughout New Mexico and in the upper Rio Grande
watershed necessitated the first release of supplemental water on March 24. This is the earliest
that supplemental water has been used in the four-year history of the program. Through a water
exchange program with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, Reclamation and other
water management agencies have developed a plan for the release of this water throughout the
irrigation season that will result in improved river conditions for the minnow.

Even with the addition of this water to be managed in concert with other water deliveries,
sections of the Rio Grande, above Elephant Butte Reservoir, will likely be without water
sometime this spring. Reducing the rate of river drying is a critical water management strategy
that greatly increases the survival of silvery minnow during periods of low flow. However,
Reclamation expects that some fish will be stranded in isolated pools, and will coordinate with
the US Fish & Wildlife Service to relocate them to upstream reaches of the river. Reclamation
has secured the use of about 44,000 acre-feet of supplemental water that will be conjunctively
managed in full compliance with state and federal law. Reclamation is optimistic that it will be
able to secure another 14,000 acre-feet in the very near future.

San Juan and Dolores River Basin

Navajo Reservoir Operations Review: Reclamation hosted a meeting on May 12 in
Durango to discuss Navajo Reservoir operations. Items on the agenda included:
. 1999 reservoir operations and releases;

9