WSPC07654

• File Number: 8200.300.20
• Description: Colorado River-Colorado River Basin-Colorado River Basin Legislation-Law-Federal
• State: CO
• Water Division: 5
• Date: 8/1/1989
• Title: CR Colorado River Floodway Protection Act-Corres Reports etc-1987-89-Report of Colorado River Floodway Task Force
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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DRAFT
August 1, 1989

EXECUTIVE SU~~RY

This report was prepared pursuant to the Colorado River
Floodway Protection Act, Public Law 99-450, for the purpose
of advising the Secretary of the Interior and the Congress
on the establishment and maintenance of the Colorado River
Floodway. It is the product of the Colorado River Floodway
Task Force, created by the Act and operated under the
provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and
provides recommendations on specific matters which the
Congress asked it to address.

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The Colorado River Floodway Protection Act originated
from Congressional hearings held in 1983 in the aftermath of
the high Colorado River flows and associated damages which
occurred primarily to encroachments in the Colorado River
flood plain. It pointed to the need to establish and
maintain an effective Floodway to preserve the river's
developed water storage capability, to minimize the loss of
human life, to protect health and safety, and to minimize
damage to property and natural resources.

The Act calls for the establishment of a federally-
declared Floodway from Davis Dam to the Southerly
International Boundary between the United States of America
and the Republic of Mexico. It is to accommodate either a-
one-in-one hundred_year river flow _consisting of controlled-
releases and tributary inflow, or a flow of forty thousand
cubic feet per second, whichever is greftt~. The forty
thousand cubic feet per second flow corresponds to the long-
standing target maximum flood control release objective of
Hoover Dam which was established with the Dam closure in
1935. The one-in-one hundred year frequency flow is the
standard level of protection that has been adopted in the
administration of the National Flood Insurance Act.

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In accordance wi th the Act, th~ boundar ies of the
Floodway are to be established by the Secretary of the
Interior through a study process, rather than through
leg islation, 50 that the boundar ies will be based on current
scientific information and analysis. The study process
itself was to be conducted in a manner which will provide for
extensive local involvement and Congressional oversight.

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