BOARD02617

• Board Meeting Date: 3/24/2003
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

.

.

.

decisions, thus Colorado appears to have achieved a victory in terms of the potential liability as
Kansas' original damage claims approached $300 million.

Closing briefs were filed at the end of February. Of significance is that Kansas recommends that the
H-I model be applied annually to determine compact compliance, that the 1996 Use Rules be
supplemented with the requirement that an additional amount of water equal to 15 percent ofthe
pumping be delivered to the Offset Account and that a River Master be appointed to resolve disputes
with respect to the implementation of the Court's decree.

Colorado is opposed to a River Master and offers arbitration as an alternative. We would also like to
see the H - I model used over a 10- year running period, beginning in 1997, to determine compact
compliance.

Colorado River Basin

Colorado River Salinity -- Citizens Committee: Salinity levels in the river remain well below the
established standards at Hoover, Parker and Imperial. However, the reductions in salinity are making
it increasingly difficult to meet the differential (115 +/- 30 mg/l) at the Northern International
Boundary with Mexico required by Minute 242 of the 1944 Treaty, as indicated in the December 2002
report on salinity operations on the Colorado River under Minute 242 prepared by IBWC.

Reclamation has been making storage releases from Lake Mead to assure the differential is met,
however, we are uncertain at this time just how much has been released for this purpose. IBWC has
also created a "Colorado River Citizens Forum" (CRCF) to exchange information regarding IBWC
activities in Yuma County, Arizona and Imperial County, California. CRCF will consist of 10
members representing diverse interests in the community with quarterly meetings open to the public.

Colorado River Salinity -- Triennial Review: The "2003 Triennial Review, Water Quality Standards
for Salinity, Colorado River System" was adopted and approved for submittal to the sates and federal
agencies at the Forum's October 2002. The Colorado WQCC considered the Review at its Jan. 14
meeting and adopted the revised Plan of Implementation. Concurrence from EP A will complete this
triennial review process.

The Forum documents in the Review its determination that the numeric criteria for TDS at the 3 lower
basin measuring points are still sufficient to meet the needs ofbasin water users and that the criteria are
achievable ifthe proposed Plan of Implementation is carried out.

The Plan of Implementation continues to rely primarily on federally funded, cost-share projects to
improve irrigation efficiency in the Upper Basin.

The Forum has recognized that new project areas will need to be identified to meet the overall goal for
tons of salt to be controlled, and Board staff is working with the federal agencies and local water users
to advance several potential areas in Colorado. In addition, the Forum has created a subcommittee to
begin examining the implications and advantages of getting the salinity control program more closely
involved with efforts to control selenium loading in the Basin. Copies of the final Review Report are
available.

Colorado River Salinity -- Advisory Council Report: The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control
Advisory Council is the federally chartered body that gives advice to the federal agencies participating
in the salinity control program. The Council consists of Forum members from each of the seven Basin
States, but meets under more formal requirements for notice and minutes. The Council's report
presenting findings and recommendations to the federal agencies has now been completed. The major
recommendations are for federal funding in FY 2004 and 2005. The US Dept. of Agriculture will seek
between $13.8 and $25 million, the US Bureau of Land Management $5.2 million, and the US Bureau
of Reclamation $17.5 million. These funding levels are consistent with prior year recommendations,
but higher than the funding actually provided by Congress in recent years. Testimony to the relevant

21