WSPC05190

• File Number: 8200.700
• Description: Colorado River Basin - General Publications
• State: CO
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 7/6/1981
• Author: Federal Register
• Title: Federal Register - Part III - Water Resources Council - Synthetic Fuels Development for the Upper Colorado Region Water Assessment
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Federal Register I Vol. 46. No. 128 I Monday, July 6. 1981 I Notices

35061

Tabl. 1.-PrfJ58nt.nd Pro;6cfec/ Dep.letions-Contll'lueCl

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average. For example. the estimated
natufal outflow from the Upper Basin for
Ihe period 1900-74 was 15.2 mar.
whereas for the period 1937-14. it .....as
13.8 mal per year.

studies that used the Colorado River
Simulation System of the u.s. Bureau or
Reclamation. The period of hydrologic
record was 1906-1974. It should be noted
that the natural surface water supply for
shorler periods within this overall
period WBS leu than the long-term

Table 2 contains estimaled presenl
and future 8urlace water Qulnew, from
the selected synfuels development aU81
and from the Basin. Estimates of the
outflows were derived from the
depletions presented in Table 1 and
from basinwide reservoir operation

T.ble 2.-AnnuaI Present and Future Surface Waler CJutfIow$
[1.000 _-"_1

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.,... ,- 1.513
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11.193 "", .,,'" I
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River water subject to certain
contingencies not pertinent 10 this
assessment.
The Upper Colorado Rh'er Basin
Compacl. negotiated In 1948. apportions
50.000 acre-feet per )'ear of Upper Basin
waler to Arizona and of the remainder
51.75 pereent to Colorado. 11.25 percent
to New Mexico. 23 percent to Utah. and
14 percent to Wyoming. The compact
also provides that evaporation losses
from ruervoir storage used to meet the
Upper Basin delivery obligations to the
Lower Basin are charged against the
Upper Basin apportionmenl.
Construction. authorization. and
operational direction for major
reservoit9 in the Colorado River Basin
are provided in four Congressional Acts.
One of these Acts. the Boulder Canyon
Project Act of 1928, apportioned Lower
Basin .....aters among the States of
California. Arizona. and Nevada. It also
authorized construction of Hoover Dam
and associated facilities. A 1963 U.S.
Supreme Court decision upheld the
apportionments in the case of Arizona
\'S. California.

Further interpretation of the
Congressional Acts may ultimately
affect water allocations from the
Colorado River System. Only the
stalutory provisions of the Colorado
River Basin Projects Act of 1968.
however. have current relevance to the
assessment. These provisions required
the Secretary of the Interior 10 propose
CJiteria for the Coordinated, long-ranse
operation of malor reservoirs in the
System. Including priOrities for the
,torsge and release of waler. Suc.h
criteria have been de\'eloped and
Implemented. and are incorporated in
the Basin hydrologic analysis used to
reach ronclusions on water supply
nailabilily.
2. State Water Rights Low. Surface
waler rights in Upper Basin Stales are
based on the doctrine of prior
appropriation. Under this doctrine. those
who first take steps to dh;ert and apply
water to a beneficial use have a right
that is senior to those who subsequently
initiate action_.Two basic. types of water
laws are involved. In Colorado. the right
10 make an appropriation is limited only
by senior water rights. Thus. neither the

D. Institutional Factors

The availabilify of water for synfuels
development Is affected by a series of
complex institutional facton. For
purposes of discussion. these may be
grouped into four categories: the "Law
of the River," State water rights laws.
Federal and Indian reserved rights. and
environmental regulatory laws and
programs. The "Law of Ihe River"
includes an international treaty.
interstate compacls. a U.S. Supreme
Court decree. and several acts of
Congress.
1. Low of the Ri\'er. The Colorado
River Compact is considered the
cornerstone for water allocation in Ihe
Colorado River Basin. Negotiated by the
seven basin State. in 1922. the compacl
provisions include 111 separation of the
Upper Basin from the Lower al Lee
Ferry. Arizona. and (2) apportionment of
7.5 mal per y('ar of the natural flow of
the Colorado River al Lee Feny to the
Upper Basin for beneficial consumptive
use and a like quantity 10 the Lower
Basin.
The Mexican Water Trealy of 1944
guaranlees ~Iexico 1.5 maf of Colorado