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'4 'r . 3461 Maryanne C Bach Brian Person October 6, :2000 Page 5 The continuance of ,he non-charge program is also a vIolation of ,he 1922 and 1948 Colorado River Compacts, in direer conrravemion of the requirement of Senate Document 80 that the CBT Projeer be ooerated in eont'ormanc:: with such Comoacts , , .'\r:icle IIIIe) of the 1922 Colorado RIver Comoaet orovides that Uooer BaSin States , .... inCluding Colorado may not wlrhhold warer which cannor reasonably be applied to domestic and agriculrural uses, The term "domestic use" includes the use of water for household, stoek, municipal. miOlng, milling, industrial and other like purposes, but expressly excludes the generarion of electrieal power. Article [V(b) of the 1922 Compact provides that although water of the Colorado River may be impounded and used for the generation of electrical power. such impounding and use shall be subservlenr co the use ar.d cor,sumC)[ic~ of sueh water for agncultur1.1 and domestic purposes, Article III of the 1948 Upper Colorado River Basin Compact allocares to the various stares quanrities of "eonsumprive use," and expressly provides in A,[[ie!e lII(b)(2) that "benefielal use is the basis, the measure and the limit of the right to use," Thus, this diversion of Water from the Colorado River Basin pursuanr to the non-charge program without domestic or agrieultural eonsumprive use on rhe Easr .Slope is also a violarion of the [948 Compaet, The non-charge program deprives the Colorado River Basin of native warer at the same time it would otherwise be enhancing spring peak flows in the I j Mile Reach, needed for the recover'! of the endangered fish, Water is diverted under the nor.-charge program in advance of the spring peak and evaeuates space in Granby R::servoir. This available space in Granby then fills during the peak runoff season when the reservoir would otherwise be spilling and conrributing to spring peak flows, Upper Colorado River Basin water users are being asked to operate projects to enhanee spring peak t10ws in the IS Mile Reach pursuant to the Programmatic Biologieal Opinion dated December 1999, The I j Mile Reach PBO has a speCific requiremenr to enhanee spring peak flows during years when the daily peak flow is within (he range of l2,900 cfs to 26,600 cfs Allowing the unneeessary and illegal reducrlon of natural ;pring peak flows through the no~'charge program undermines the West Slooe'; willingness to partieipate in a cooperatlve solution to the permanent peak flow problem and threatens the cantinuatlon of the Recovery L- r r.(- ~o Ccz7