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<br />:lu913' <br /> <br />STATE OF CALIFORNIA-THE RESOURCES AGENCY <br /> <br />EDMUND G. BROWN JR., GOVernor <br /> <br />= <br /> <br />COLORADO RIVER BOARD OF CALIFORNIA <br />107 SOUTH BROADWAY, ROOM 8103 <br />LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90012 <br />(213) 620-4480 <br /> <br />Q <br /> <br />July 17, 1981 <br /> <br />Honorable Edmund G. Brown Jr. <br />Governor of California <br />state Capitol <br />Sacramento, California 95814 <br /> <br />Dear Governor Brown: <br /> <br />We are pleased to present to you and the Legislature the Colorado River Board's Annual <br />Report for Calendar Year 1980. <br /> <br />Water supplies in the Colorado River Basin were above average in 1980, the third year <br />in a row since the worst drought in history occurred in 1977. However, beginning in June <br />1980, and for the balance of the.year, precipitation in the Colorado River Basin was very <br />low and river flow forecasts in early 1981 indicated that 1981 will be a very dry year. <br /> <br />The favorable water conditions, combined with a slow rate of development, caused salin- <br />ity concentrations in the river to remain below established numeric criteria. The Colorado <br />River Basin Salinity Control Forum, in its continuing effort to reduce the river's salinity, <br />adopted a policy for the use of brackish and/or saline waters for industrial purposes which <br />will encourage and promote the use of these waters and in controlling salinity. Progress <br />continued to be made on the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program with the com- <br />pletion of the new lined section of the Coachella Canal in November 1980 estimated to save <br />132,000 acre-feet of water per year previously lost through seepage. Lining for a seven- <br />mile long canal section as part of the salinity control program for the Grand Valley Unit <br />in Colorado will be completed in early 1981, two years ahead of schedule. <br /> <br />Litigation continued before the U. S. Supreme Court's Special Master in the reopening <br />of Arizona v. California regarding the claims of the United States and the five lower <br />Colorado River Indian reservations for additional water rights. The trial phase began in <br />September and lasted four weeks, with the Board's staff providing technical advice to the <br />Attorney General. The trial continued in 1981. <br /> <br />Work continued in 1980 on a marketing plan for Boulder Canyon Project (Hoover Dam <br />hydroelectric power), to become effective after the current 50-year contracts expire in <br />1987. The Chief Engineer continued to coordinate the efforts of the California agencies <br />with Hoover power contracts. Progress was made in that the United States Western Area <br />Power Administration acknowledged that the California agencies have the right of contract <br />renewal a~d the right to a long-term contract. The Nevada Division of Colorado River Re- <br />sources, however, is still claiming a right to contract for one-third of the power from <br />Hoover Powerpl~~t. If Nevada's claim and a similar one by the Arizona Power Authority are <br />upheld, California would lose about one-half of its Hoover power rights. <br /> <br />These and other activities in the Colorado River Basin are described in the report <br />which follows and in a separate supplemental appendix. <br /> <br />~{}Yl+ <br /> <br />Patricia C. Nagle, Chairman <br />and Colorado River Commissioner <br />