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<br />of Lake Powell and Lake Mead and was not intended to modify the Long-Range <br /> <br />Operating Criteria. The document, which reviewed annual operation plans for <br /> <br />Lakes Powell and Mead, included specific limits on the operation of these <br /> <br />Lakes to provide spawning habitat for the bass fishery in Lake Mead. The <br /> <br />States of New Mexico, Wyoming, and California protested language that would <br /> <br />make maintenance of fishery habitats in Lakes Powell and Mead anything but <br /> <br />incidental to the operation of the reservoir system. <br /> <br />At a special meeting on January 10, 1978, the Upper Colorado River <br /> <br />Commission passed a resolution that objected to the Bureau of Reclamation <br /> <br />releasing water from Lake Powell to enhance bass production in Lake Mead. <br /> <br />This resolution concluded: <br /> <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Upper Colorado River <br />Commission. . . that said Commission strongly objects to the <br />resumption of the practice of releasing water from Lake Powell for <br />the enhancement of bass production in Lake Mead for the reasons <br />that such releases are not in compliance with the law, . . <br /> <br />On February 3, 1977, the Commission's General Counsel Paul Billhymer <br /> <br />wrote a memo to Executive Director Ival V. Goslin regarding power contracts <br /> <br />entered into by the Bureau of Reclamation that put the Bureau in the position <br /> <br />of possibly having to release flows greater than 8.23 million acre-feet to <br /> <br />generate enough energy to meet the contracts. The central question addressed <br /> <br />by Mr. Billhymer was whether or not the Secretary of the Interior had <br /> <br />authority to release water in excess of 8.23 million acre-feet from Lake <br /> <br />Powell. After outlining the requirements of section 602(a) of P.L. 90-537 <br /> <br />and discussing the legislative history of that section, Mr. Billhymer con- <br /> <br />eluded: <br /> <br />From the above outlined legislative history it should be clear <br />that Congress understood that in the operation of Lake Powell, it <br />was setting up strict guidelines which were to be followed. The <br />guidelines did not allow the Secretary to establish an unfettered <br />operating criteria. It further seems clear from the Secretary's <br /> <br />1 1 <br />