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<br />D. United states Obliqation to Satisfv Mexican Water Treatv <br /> <br />The United States has not met its obligation to augment the <br />supplies of the Colorado River System to satisfy the treaty <br />obligation to Mexico. Had the United States met this obligation <br />over the past four years, or had a definitive plan for meeting its <br />obligation been in place, the perceived risk to the certainty of <br />each state's basic apportionment would have diminished. <br />Furthermore, the United States has not met its obligation to <br />implement the permanent and definitive solution to the <br />international problem of the salinity of the Colorado River in a <br />timely fashion. Had the United states operated the Yuma Desalting <br />Plant since March 1988, the perceived risk to the certainty of each <br />state's apportionment would have been diminished further. In fact, <br />6.5 maf or 46 percent of the expected 14.1 maf drawdown of the <br />Colorado River System reservoirs by the end of December 1991 can be <br />attributed to the United States' not meeting these tw~ obligations. <br /> <br />E. Reasonable Beneficial Consumptive Use <br /> <br />Under Article III (e) of the Colorado River Compact, the Upper <br />Division states shall not withhold water, and the Lower Division <br />states shall not require the delivery of water that cannot <br />reasonably be appl ied to domestic and agricultural uses. As <br />required for use, such release will be made in accordance with the <br />"Law of the River" to include releases from Lake Powell to the <br />states of the Lower Division in accordance with Section 602(a) of <br />Public Law 90-537. <br /> <br />Each user of Colorado River water is limited to reasonable and <br />beneficial consumptive use. Under current conditions, this <br />requires that all users employ best available water management <br />practices and maximize the employment of feasible water <br />conservation measures. Section 210 of the Reclamation Reform Act <br />of 1982 provides guidance to the Secretary of the Interior with <br />respect to water conservation and requires contractors to prepare <br />water conservation plans. Title 43, Code of Federal Regulations <br />(CFR), Part 426.19, implements the water conservation element of <br />the statute. The Secretary of the Interior is to encourage the <br />full consideration and incorporation of prudent and responsible <br />water conservation measures in all districts and for all recipients <br />of irrigation water from Federal Reclamation projects. Districts <br />that have entered into repayment or water service contracts <br />according to Federal Reclamation law are to develop a water <br />conservation plan that contains definite objectives which are <br />economically feasible and a time schedule for meeting those <br />objectives. The Bureau of Reclamation is to cooperate with the <br />districts in the studies to identify opportunities to augment, <br />utilize, or conserve the available water supply. Furthermore, in <br />accordance with Title 43, CFR, Part 417, Reclamation's Lower <br />Colorado Regional Director is to consult with each contractor in <br />the Lower Division states in order to make annual recommendations <br /> <br />6 <br />