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I I I . I I I I . I I I I I I I I I I OU2107 Hydrosphere's Colorado River Model December 29, 1993 Page 14 MODEL OPERATIONS This section describes how the current version of Hydrosphere's Colorado River Model simulates the operations within the Colorado River basin when simulating the "Law of the River". However, changes which may be required for a particular study to simulate new operations may be incorporated into future versions of the model. The extent and nature of these changes will be determined by the types of analyses sought by our customers. The operations described in this section are water allocation to consumptive uses, storage and instream flow; reservoir operations; hydropower generation; and the special operations. The special operations consist of flood control releases, objective minimum release from Lake Powell, inflow forecasting, calculation of 602(a) storage, equalization between Lakes Powell and Mead, and the declaration and quantification of shortages and surpluses in the Colorado basin. Calculations of salinity and evaporation are also described in this section. Water Allocation Water is allocated within the basin according to the priorities established by the interstate compacts, treaty, state laws, court decisions, and existing operating rules for storage and delivery of the water. Allocations are first made to the instream flow reaches. Ten instream flow reaches are represented in the model. These are: Green River below Fontenelle Green River below Flaming Gorge Yampa River above confluence with Green River (below little Snake River) White River above confluence with Green River Gunnison River below Curecanti Project San Juan River above confluence with Colorado Colorado River above Lake Powell (below confluence with Green River) Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam Colorado River below Hoover Dam Colorado River below Parker Dam The model user will be able to set and modify streamflow requirements in these reaches but will not be able to change the relative priorities of their allocations. We have assumed that, because any instream flow requirements would arise from mandates under the Endangered Species Act, allocations to these reaches will have the highest priority in the basin. Hydrosphere's Colorado River Model allocates water to consumptive uses and storage in the system in such a way that ensures that all institutional priorities are met, including mandated instream flows. Conceptually, the system is divided into two systems corresponding to the Upper and Lower Basins. In the Upper Basin, water is allocated within each state according to a set of priorities. Each depletion has an assignable, relative priority; Le., any depletion may be assigned a priority senior or junior to any other priority in the same state. The initial set of priorities Hydrosphere Resource Consultants 1002 Walnut Suite 200 Boulder, Colorado 80302