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Federal Register/Vol. 66, No. 12/Thursday, January 18, ZOOl/Notices 4857 Socretary has the responsibility of operating Federal facilities on the Colorado River and delivering mainstream Colorado River water to users in Arizona, California. and Nevada that hold entitlements, including present perfected rights. to such water. Article V of the Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States in Arizona v. California dated March 9, 1964 (376 U.S. 340) requires the Secretary to compile and maintain record, of diversions of water from the mainsueam, of return now Of such water to the mainstream as is available for consumptive use in the United States or in satisfaction of the Mexican Treaty obligation. and of consumptive use of such water. Reclamation reports this data each year in the Decree Accounting Record. Pursuant to the Criteria for Coordinated Long.Range Operation of Colorado River Reservoirs developed as a result of the Colorado River Basin Project Act of September 3D, 196B, the Secretary annually consults with representatives oftha governors of the Colorado River Basin States, general public and others and i-ssues an Annual Operalmg Plan (AOPJ for the coordinated operation of the Colorado River ulservO\[s, Reclamation a.lso requires each Colorado River water user in the Lower Basin to schedule water deliveries in advance (or the following calendar yeaI (calendar year is the annual basis for decree accouuting of consumptive use in the lower Colorado basinl and to later report its actual water diversions and returns to the mainstream. Pursuant to 43 CFR part 417, prior to the beginning of each calendar year, Reclamation consults with entities holding SO' A sectioD 5 contracts (Contractor) for the delivery of water. Under these consultations, Reclamation makes reconunendations relating to water conservation measures and operating practices in the diversion, deUvery, distribution. and use of Colorado River water. Reclamation also mak.es a determination of the Contractor's estimated water requirements for the ecsuing calendar year to the end that deliveries of Colorado River water to each. Contractor will not exceed those reasonably required for beneficial use under the respective BCPA coctract or other authorization for use of Colorado River water, Reclamation then monitors the actual water orders, receives reports o( measured diversions and rBturn flows from major Contractors and federal establishments. estimates unmeasured diversions and return flows. calculates consumptive use from preliminary diversions and measured and unmeasured return flows. and reports these records on an individual and aggregate monthly basis. Later, when final records are available, Reclamation prepares and publishes the .!ina! Decree Accounting Record on a calendar yaar besis. For various reasons, a user may inadvertently consumptively use Colorado River water in an amount that exceeds the amount available under its entitlement (inadvertent overrun). Further, the n.na1 DecrM AccounUng Record mav show that an entitlement holder inadvertently diverted water in excess of the quantity of the enlitlement \hat may not have been evident from the preliminary records. Reclamation is therefore considering aD administrative policy thal defines inadvertent overruns, establishes procedures that account for the inadvertent overruns and defines the subsequent requirements for pay back to tha Colorado River mainstream. Any effects of the proposed administrative policy decillion on the. environment will be addressed pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Inadvertent QvelTUIl5 Reclamation is proposing for the Lower Colorado River Basin an inadvertent overrun policy that would include the following features: a. Inadvertent overruns are those which the Secretary deems to be beyond the control of the water user; for example, overruns due to the discrepancy between preliminary and final stream flow and diversion records. or overruns due to an unanticipated but lawful use by a higher-priority water user. b. An inadvertent overrun is Colorado River water diverted, pumped or received by an entitlement holder In excess of the water user's entitlement for that year. The inadvertent overrun policy provides a structure to pay back the amount of water diverted, pumped or received in excess of entitlement. The inadvertent overruc policy does not create any right or entitlement to this water, nor does it expand the underlying entitlemeat in any way, An entitlement holder has no right to order, divert. pump or receive an inadvertent ovemIn. If, however, water is diverted. pumped or received inadvertently in ex.cess of entitlement, and the Contractor's Slale's apportionment of Colorado River waler for that year is exceeded, the inadvertent overrun policy will govern the poybaex-. c. Payback. will be required to commence in the cahmdar year thet immediately follows the release date of a Decree Accounting Record that reports. uses that are in excess of an lndilJlduat's entitlement. d. Payback must be made only from measures that ate above and beyond the normal consumptive use of waler (extraordinary conservation measures). Extraordinary conservation measures mean actions taken to conserve water that otherwise would not return to the mainstream of the Colorado River and be available for beneficial consumptive use in the Unit'ad States or lo satisfy the Mexican treaty obligation. Any entitlement holder with a payback obligation must submit to Reclamation, along with its water order, a plan which will show how it will intentionally forbear use of Colorado River water by extraordinary conservation and/or fallowing measures sufficient to meet its payback obligation. which are in addition to the measures found in its Reclamation approved conservation plan. Plans for payback could also include supplementing Colorado River system water supplies with non-system water supplies. Water banked off-stream or groundwater from areas not hydrologically connected to the Colorado River or its tributaries are examples of such supplemental supplies. e. Maximum cumulative inadvertent overrun accountS will be specified for individual entitlement holders as 10 percent of an entitlement holder's normal year consumptive use entitlement. (Normal year means a year for which the Secretary bas determined that sufficient mainstream Colorado River water is available for release to satisfy 7.5 mat of annual consumptive use in the States of California. Arizona and Nevada.] f. The number of years WIthin which an overrun, calculated from consumptive uses reported in final Decree Accounting Records, must be paid back, and the minimum payback required for each year shall be as follows: 1. In a year in which the Secretary makes a flood control release or a ~pace building release, any accumulated amount in the overrun account will be forgiven. 2. If the Secretary has declared a 70 R surplus in the AOP, any payback obligation will be deferred at the entitlement hold6r's option. . 3. When Lak.e Mead elevation is between the elevation for a 70R surplus declaration and elevation 1125 feet above mean sea level on January 1, the payback obligation must be paid back in full within 3 years. with a minimum payback that yeat of the greater of 20