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<br />U01371 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />space greater than required by the regulations, and provide <br /> <br /> <br />for the required flood control storage space by using <br /> <br /> <br />available space in the different reservoirs, within <br /> <br /> <br />constraints set by the regulations, the Operating Criteria <br /> <br /> <br />promulgated in compliance with section 602 of P.L. 90-537 and <br /> <br /> <br />the rest of the "Law of the River". <br /> <br /> <br />The Bureau of Reclamation provided information on its <br /> <br /> <br />expected future Colorado River operations to the public in <br /> <br /> <br />the mid to late 1970s, and explained how such operations <br /> <br /> <br />would impact on developments in the floodway. The term <br /> <br /> <br />"floodway" refers to the channel of the river and any <br /> <br /> <br />additional area necessary to convey the design flood. <br /> <br /> <br />Brochures delineating the floodway were published, and a <br /> <br /> <br />report was issued in 1976 and given wide public circulation. <br /> <br /> <br />The report indicated that flows of 40,000 cfs could be <br /> <br /> <br />anticipated within the next 10 years, with the expected <br /> <br /> <br />filling of Lake Powell. <br /> <br /> <br />1983 Reservoir Releases and Flood Damages <br /> <br /> <br />On January 1, 1983, there was 6,600,000 acre-feet of <br /> <br /> <br />vacant reservoir storage space in the Colorado River system, <br /> <br /> <br />about 25 percent more than the minimum required by the flood <br /> <br /> <br />control regulations.~very unusual combination of weather <br /> <br /> <br />events in 1983 caused a rapid succession of increasing runoff <br /> <br /> <br />forecasts from 117 percent of normal on May 1 to 210 percent <br /> <br /> <br />of normal in late June. The unusual weather conditions <br /> <br /> <br />resulted in a near record runoff of 14.6 million acre-feet <br /> <br /> <br />for the Ap~il-July oeriod and a peak inflow into Lake Powell <br /> <br /> <br />-7- <br />