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<br />0;013 G 8 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />", .' <br /> <br />, - <br /> <br />conditions, as is now being done, Hoover Dam releases may <br /> <br /> <br />occasionally have to be made at flow rates higher than those <br /> <br /> <br />experienced from 1935-1982. This fact was brought forth in <br /> <br /> <br />1983 and 1984, when flood control releases had to be made <br /> <br /> <br />which adversely affected many of the structures that had been <br /> <br /> <br />improperly located in the floodway. <br /> <br /> <br />Flood Control Regulations <br /> <br /> <br />The Secretary of the Interior's operations for flood <br /> <br /> <br />control are governed by the Army Corps of Engineers' Hoover <br /> <br /> <br />Dam Flood Control Regulations. The Flood Control Regula- <br /> <br /> <br />tions, established pursuant to the Flood Control Act of 1944 <br /> <br /> <br />(33 U.S.C. sec. 709), have evolved with time from an <br /> <br /> <br />inflexible mandatory criteria of reserving 9,500,000 acre- <br /> <br /> <br />feet of vacant storage space on April 1 of each year, when <br /> <br /> <br />there were no major Upper Basin storage facili ties and when <br /> <br /> <br />average annual water supply far exceeded downstream demands, <br /> <br /> <br />t~a more flexible concept that enhances all project purposes <br /> <br /> <br />while providing a degree of flood protection equivalent to <br /> <br /> <br />that provided under the earlier criteria. The flexible con- <br /> <br /> <br />cept arose from periodic reviews of the regulations conducted <br /> <br /> <br />by the Corps of Engineers, in cooperation with the Bureau of <br /> <br /> <br />Reclamation and the Basin states. The most recent review and <br /> <br /> <br />update of those regulations occurred between 1978 and 1982. <br /> <br /> <br />In this last review, nine al terna ti ves were evaluated, <br /> <br /> <br />each one of which was set up to favor, in turn, a different <br /> <br /> <br />one of the author ized Hoover Dam project purposes of flood' <br /> <br /> <br />control and river regulatio:1, water conservation, and power <br /> <br />-4- <br />