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<br />.' <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />AS THE RATCHET TURNS: <br />BUREAU REGULATIONS FOR THE LOWER BASIN <br /> <br />by <br />Gary D. Weatherford <br />Payne, Thompson, Walker & Taaffe <br />San Francisco, California <br /> <br />A Paper Delivered to the Colorado River Water Users <br />Association Meeting, December 12, 199~ <br />Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada <br /> <br />I. WHERE ARE WE? <br /> <br />Scarcity produces conflict. <br />Instability breeds a desire for <br />regulated behavior. <br /> <br />Conflict promotes instability. <br />order. Order means a degree of <br /> <br />For water right holders in the Lower Colorado River, as <br />well as their unentitled cousins who pump near the River, <br />regulations are on the way. On May 20 of this year, the Lower <br />Basin Regional Office issued draft "Regulations for <br />Administering Entitlements to Colorado River Water in the Lower <br />Colorado River Basin" (that will become Part 415 of Title 43 of <br />the Code of Federal Regulations if finalized). These draft <br />regulations represent the first step on the road to the <br />publication of "proposed" regulations that in turn will start the <br />formal process toward adoption and implementation. The ratchet <br />is about to turn, <br /> <br />There is a saying, "You can count on one thing with federal <br />regulations: the mumbo is always jumbo." Actually, the Bureau's <br />draft is comparatively short as federal regulations go. It is <br />fifty-four typewritten pages in length. <br /> <br />The draft regulations were presented to the Lower Basin <br />states in late Spring for informal comment. The original <br />schedule would have involved the publication of proposed <br />regulations in the Federal Register early in 1992. The comments <br />by the states and other interested parties have been extensive <br />enough, however, to cause the schedule to be delayed. <br /> <br />1680 <br /> <br />- 1 - <br />