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<br />" r, 1~~' <br />1. '" J.. <br /> <br />Table 5 presents a summary of scheduled <br />orders of water from the Colorado River be- <br />low Parker Dam, the quantity not taken, and <br />what happened to the rejected water by agen- <br />cies. The California agencies ordered but did <br />not take 1.0 percent of their total orders, and <br />the Arizona agencies did not take 4.8 percent <br />of their total orders. <br /> <br />Coordinated Operation of <br />Colorado River Reservoirs <br /> <br />The Bureau of Reclamation released its <br />second annual report on the operation of Col- <br />orado River reservoirs pursuant to Section <br />602 (b) of P.L. 90-537, The report described <br />the actual operation of the reservoirs for wa- <br />ter year 1972 and the projected operation <br />during wate~ year 1973. This report repeats <br />the finding of the first annual report, that <br />"the accumulation of '602 (a) storage' is not <br />the criterion governing the release of water <br />during the current year." Based on that find- <br />ing, no determination was made of a numeri- <br />cal value for 602 (a) storage, and 1973 water <br /> <br />year releases from Lake Powell were set at <br />8,23 million acre-feet, the minimum release <br />rate specified in the Colorado River Basin <br />Project Act operating criteria, <br /> <br />Power <br /> <br />The production of hydroelectric power in <br />Colorado River Basin power plants consti- <br />tutes a vital resource to the Basin states, both <br />for the energy generated and for the power <br />revenues received, Tables 6, 7, and 8 and <br />Plates 5 and 7 show key aspects of hydroelec- <br />tric power generation in 1972. <br />As Plate 5 shows, all but Fontenelle Reser- <br />voir stayed above rated head elevation <br />throughout the water year, Fontenelle was <br />lowered below rated head to increase its <br />capacity to capture the spring runoff, there- <br />by improving the downstream habitat for <br />geese. For Lower Basin interests, operating <br />year water releases from Hoover Dam and <br />electric generation statistics are shown in Ta- <br />ble 7. There was very little change from the <br />previous operating year. <br /> <br />Table 6 <br />MAJOR COlORADO RIVER BASIN POWER PLANTS, <br />OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS, AND RESERVOIR LEVELS <br />WATER YEAR 1971-72 <br /> <br /> Designated Storage Designated Storage <br /> Net Change A-fin. Power Above Min. Rated Ab<we <br /> Ele~'ation Elcl'arion During O~r8tjng Oper. uvel Head Rated Head <br /> 9//0/71 9/JO/71 Year Level 9/JO/71 Elevation 9/JO/71 <br /> (Fen Abol-'c Sea Level) (Feet) (Feet) (1000 AF) (Feet) (1000 AFJ <br />Lake Mead . 1,153.6 1,158,5 +4,9 1.083 7,427 1,123 3,818 <br />Lake Powell . 3,614,3 3.603,4 -10.9 3.490 8,362 3,570 3.060 <br />Flaming Gorge.. 6,018.7 6.0ll.0 +14,3 5,871 3,232 5.946 2.4()3 <br />Blue Mesa .. . 7,483.6 7,480.7 -2.9 7,393 430 7,438 262 <br />Fontenelle .. 6,503.7 6,505.7 +2.0 6,475 201 6,491 108 <br />Morrow Point: 7,159.5 7,158.9 -0.6 7,100 59 7,108 51 <br /> <br />16 <br />