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<br />,Bureau of Reclamation ID:702-293-8042 <br /> <br />MAR 31'97 10:37 No.006 P.03 <br /> <br />(""') <br />(;> <br />o <br />C\l <br />o <br />o <br /> <br />llllJ'lJlOrtcd in the lower court (Laughlm River Tours v. U.S.), a1tho\Jgh not appealed. Thi:; <br />oonstraint applies in aU situations, inducliug surplus conditions. <br /> <br />Because the lower river rcsc:Mlirs (Mohave and Havasu) have only a fraction of the <br />ctfcctive capacity oflakes Mead' and Powdl, the waters developed in the upper Colorado <br />River watershed and not u.o;ed in the urrer basin are retained in Mead and Powotl until <br />released for OOllSUll1ptive use or released for flood oontrol. The lower river reservoirs <br />llel've primarily for rc-rcgulation ancIlocal stoOD wlluul, 81Jhough dtcy too are subject to <br />the Decree constraint. <br /> <br />Since the filling of Lake Powell jq 1980 the system water supply Iwl varied fTom the <br />highest four ctlIISeCUtive years to the lowest four coasccutive years, producing a system <br />lUsh 8tOQ8e of62.129 miIIionacnte.t ill 1983 to a low of40.629 million acrcfeet ill <br />1992, It whidt time Lake Mead was It Elevation 1175. Although these edremos appear <br />UI1I1"..I, d1ey IAl witIIIn lhc rIIIp oCflowUbat IlIIve blstoricdy occurred. The system <br />storage l'eCXMlIy IIiIu:e 1992, IIld the Iff"""-t risina like Iovds.arel cIemonstration of <br />the ClllpfJCted ayItan variations. Thoac wrlafioas IAl fiuther lIustrated in this ~'s <br />ope. atinnA. The filii! JIIIIIJUy becast tbr 199'1 projected the ApriI-JuIy nmofF of J 2 <br />million ICfe feet. Ism oftbat expec;tcd OIl avemge. nq bas required Reclamation to <br />begin Sood c;ontcoI rdeaSQi. lftha Ilncast pvves 8CCW'Ite the elevation of Late Mead <br />will rise from its current elevation ofU9S to elevation 1207 bythc end of the }'CII'. <br />It would be pI1ysicalIy impossible to avoid the rise in Iakc levcIs. These CYCIIts are the <br />result of weather conditions over whidJ we have nn tJOntro1. Even if the doc:ree <br />lin>itations described above did not exist or could be changed (which they calUlOt), the <br />force of natw:e, by itself; limits our discnodon VVCI""~. <br /> <br />The CoIomlo River Basin Project Act providccl for the manqcmcnt and equalization of <br />the water levels ~ Lake Powdl and LakeMead. These management reqouelJlents <br />arc contained in ICldion 602 <a) of the Act. and _ tbrther promulgated in the Criteria for <br />('~rdinated Larel!-Rm~ ~ ofCo1ora4o River It............:..u diRlcled in Ihe Act. <br />The Act is specific in eatablishiag the Hlmocriteriallld both the Ad. and the Criteria. <br />comain the samo ''''lgI'age relative to RlIeuos of water Ii'om Lake Powell and the <br />cquaflZBtion betwcm the reservoirs. Once the specific rcstraitU relative to water W1e, <br />retention and delivoy Iistcd in the Ad ~ been met, section 602(a)(3)(ii) of the Act <br />requifCll that, when the storage in LIb Mead is lo88 thin in Lako PowdI, rcloues &om <br />Lake Powell win be made to "maintain, as nearly as pt'ICtlcablc, active storage in Lake <br />~ eqwal to Ihe active storage In Lake POweJ1," and, --avoid anticipated spills from <br />Lake Powell." This specified action IIld presumed result is dearly prescribed in the Act. <br />The Secrewy's discretion is the application of tile tenn "practicable," wbiclJ results in <br />the determination of the ter.hnology and timing wheroby tbe equalization may be <br />practicably achieved, that is, within natTOW annual confines, when the equalization win <br />oc:c:ur. The effect is tllallhe u::quil ed eqlllllization typically OCQIrs in the fatl or early <br />winter, with the process to achieve equalization starting as soon as the inflow forecasts <br />are finn. <br />