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<br />7.600 maf, which is 98 percent of the 30-year average for the period 1961-1990, The July 7th
<br />forecast of WU'egulated inflow into Lake Powell for the 1998-99 water year is I 1,783 moo, or
<br />101 percent of the 30-year average,
<br />
<br />The Lower Division states' estimated consumptive use of Colorado River water for calendar
<br />year 1999, as estimated by Board staff, totals 8.373 maf and is projected as follows: Arizona,
<br />2,954 maf; California, 5,145 maf; and, Nevada, 0.274 maf, Estimated additional unmeasured return
<br />flow credits of 0,234 maf would reduce the total amount of consumptive use to 8,139 maf, For
<br />calendar year 1999, the Central Arizona Project (CAP) is projected to divert 1.493 maf, of which
<br />307,000 acre-feet is to be placed in the Arizona Water Bank, and The Metropolitan Water District
<br />of Southern California (MWD) is projected to divert 1,218 maf
<br />
<br />The July I" estimate of 1999 end-of-year California agricultural consumptive use of Colorado
<br />River water under the first three priorities of the 1931 California Seven Party Agreement is 3,868
<br />maf. This estimate is based on the collective use through June 1999 by the Palo Verde Irrigation
<br />District (PVID), the Yuma Project Reservation Division (YPRD), the Imperial Irrigation District
<br />(110), and the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), Figure I, found at the end of this report,
<br />depicts the historic end-of-year agricultural use for the year.
<br />
<br />Colorado River Operations
<br />
<br />On June 23'd, I, along with representatives from the Board's member agencies and the other
<br />Basin states, attended the second of three planned consultation meetings with the U.S, Bureau of
<br />Reclamation (Reclamation) in Las Vegas, Nevada, to discuss and provide comments on the draft
<br />2000 Annual Operating Plan for the Colorado River Reservoir System (2000 AOP). The final
<br />consultation meeting is scheduled for August 10th in Las Vegas, Nevada, A copy of the June 23'd
<br />agenda and draft 2000 AOP are included in the Board folder. It is Reclamation's recommendation
<br />that the 2000 AOP contain the same determinations as the 1999 AOP, that is: Hoover Dam would
<br />be operated under a surplus condition;.any Lower Division state would be allowed to use water
<br />apportioned to, but unused, by the other Lower Division states; Mexico would be allowed to
<br />schedule the delivery of 1. 7 maf, a surplus declaration; and since storage in the Upper Basin
<br />reservoirs is above the 602(a) storage requirement, the equalization ofstoiage in Lakes Powell and
<br />Mead and the avoidance of spills would govern releases at Glen Canyon Dam,
<br />
<br />The only significant discussion regarding the draft of the 2000 AOP was on the language
<br />describing the releases from Lake Powell and their relationship to the Grand Canyon Protection Act.
<br />It is the position of the Upper Basin states and others that the Grand Canyon Protection Act did not
<br />modiI)' the "Law of the River", nor the purposes for which Glen Canyon Dam is operated,
<br />
<br />Reclamation, on June 2'd, released a voluminous report and accompanying appendix entitled
<br />"Lower Colorado River Accounting System (LCRAS) - Demonstration of Technology, Calendar Year
<br />1997". The LCRAS is an accounting method, being developed by Reclamation, that estimates and
<br />distributes consumptive use to diverters along the Lower Colorado River. The Board staff, along
<br />with member agency staff, have begun to review the document to determine the full extent of the
<br />impacts this new methodology will have on California. The LCRAS program will be discussed more
<br />
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