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. . Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) is projected to divert 1,079 maf. The preliminary November 30d forecast of 1998 end-of-year California agricultural consumptive use of Colorado River water under the first three priorities of the 1931 California Seven Party AgreemenJ is 3.874 maf, This estimate is based on the collective use through October 1998 by the Palo Verde Irrigation District (PVID), the Yuma Project Reservation Division (ypRD), the Imperial Irrigation District (llD), and the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), Figure 1, found at the end of this report, depicts the forecast of end- of-year agricultural use for the year, Colorado River Ooerations Last month I reported that the U ,S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) had begun making space building releases from Hoover Dam earlier than nonnal in order to meet the U.s, Anny Corps of Engineers flood control regulations for Hoover Dam and to reduce the possibility of downstream damages caused by flood control releases in January, February, and March 1999, On October 30'h, Reclamation held a briefing conference call to keep the states appraised of the situation. Initially, Reclamation planned to release approximately 650,000 acre-feet of water from storage above down stream requirements by December 31, 1998. That number has now been revised to 870,000 acre- feet A large portion of this increase was caused by the Central Arizona Project reducing its water delivery schedule for the last three months of 1998, Last month during the Board's Executive Session, the Board approved submittal of staff's comments to the Department of the interior, Bureau of indian Affairs, concerning its Notice of Public Comment Period on Proposed Agreement for Leasing of Colorado River Water and Non-Irrigation of Lands on Chemehuevi Indian Reservation. For your infonnation, I have included in the Board folder a copy of the Board's transrnittalletter to the Secretary of the Interior along with the Board's comments, Earlier this month, on November 4111 and 511l, in Henderson, Nevada, Reclamation held its second technical consultation meeting concerning the implementation of the Lower Colorado River Accounting System (LCRAS). The meeting was attended by thirty-six representatives from the Lower Division states and the federal government The California delegation consisted of representatives from the Palo Verde Irrigation District, the Imperial Irrigation District, The Metropolitan Water District of South em California, and the Colorado River Board of California. During the meeting, Reclamation indicated it would be responding to the Board's letter of July 30, 1998. That letter was included in the August 26, 1998, Board folder and conveyed the Board's and agency cornments to Reclamation concerning its first LCRAS technical consultation meeting, which was held during June of this year, Reclamation's response is currently being reviewed by its upper management. One of the concerns that was expressed by California and others at the June meeting was the inconsistencies that exist between the California Irrigation Management Infonnation System (CIMIS) and the Arizona Meteorological Network (AZMET) climate data stations, Reclamation is addressing those inconsistencies. Representatives from CIMIS and AZMET spoke to the meeting attendees, and each said that the data from their respective climate data stations were never intended 2