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Uuatd . . Reclamation has committed to hold more technical consultation meetings, on a somewhat regular basis, to keep the Lower Division States apprised of the development of LCRAS. As the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Reports are prepared, they also will hold LCRAS technical consultation meetings. Each succeeding report is intended to incorporate improvements over previous reports (the 1995 and 1996 Reports). Reclamation has often indicated that it is committed to use LCRAS for the official year-2000 system use accounting record for Article V of the 1964 Supreme Court Decree in Arizona v. California. Reclamation anticipates publishing the Year-2000 LCRAS Report during the Fall of 2001. As it currently stands, year-1999 will be the last year that the current accounting system, with its unmeasured return-flows, will be officially used. It is anticipated that the next LCRAS technical consultation meeting will be held in late Spring of 1999. Basin Statesffribes Discussion On December 16th, the Commissioner of Reclamation (Eluid Martinez), the U.S. Commissioner for the International Boundary and Water Commission (John Bernal), and other federal officials met with representatives from the Colorado River Basin states to discuss improvements to the salinity and consistency of the water deliveries to Mexico at the Southerly International Boundary (SIB). Reclamation is recommending moving forward with an interim approach to address these issues. Included in the Board folder is a December 31, 1998, letter from Reclamation that describes Reclamation's proposed interim approach which includes: I) construction of a diversion channel from the Boundary Pumping Plant to the existing Bypass Drain that carries drainage water from the Wellton-Mohawk area to the Cienega De Santa Clara, 2) installation of variable speed motor controllers or other appropriate flow control devices at the Boundary Pwnping Plant to reduce the fluctuation of flows and minimize the salinity spikes arriving at the SIB, and 3) increase pwnping at the Minute 242 Well Field to replace water proposed to be diverted to the Bypass Drain. Reclamation and the International Boundary and Water Commission will complete the necessary environmental compliance to implement the proposed interim actions. As currently envisioned, construction of the interim facilities could begin in fiscal year 200 1, with completion in fiscal year 2002. Initially, it is thought that about 4,000 acre-feet of water would be diverted from the Boundary Pwnping Plant to the Bypass Drain during the four critical months of September, October, November, and January. As salinity concentrations of the 242 Well Field and the Ywna Valley Main Drain increase over time, future diversions of up to 22,000 acre-feet of water might be made from the Boundary Pumping Plant to the Bypass Drain to maintain the salinity concentration at or below the target of 1,200 parts per million (ppm). To maintain the water deliveries at the Southerly International Boundary, Reclamation intends to replace the water diverted from the Boundary Pwnping Plant to the Bypass Drain with increased pwnping of the 242 Well Field. Reclamation's December 31, 1998 letter requested comments on moving forward with the proposed interim measures. The comment deadline is January 15, 1999. Comments that the Board may want to provide will be discussed during the January Board meeting. During the Secretary of the Interior's speech in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Colorado River Water Users Association Annual Meeting, he announced that the negotiations conceming 3