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<br />UOG~');.J <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />,~1 <br /> <br />2004 Annual Operating Plan (2004 AO?) <br /> <br />The first consultation meeting of the Colorado River Management Work Group was held on <br />June 3'd to discuss the 2004 Annual Operating Plan for the Colorado River System Reservoirs (2004 <br />AOP). During the meeting, Reclamation provided an update on the status of the hydrological <br />conditions in the Colorado River Basin. Reclamation representatives stated that with the current <br />reservoir conditions the operation of the reservoir system in the 2004 AOP would be under a normal <br />condition if the Interim Surplus Guidelines are not reinstated and under a partial surplus if the Interim <br />Surplus Guidelines are reinstated. A draft of the 2004 AOP will be made available prior to the next <br />meeting of the Work Group, which is scheduled for August 6, 2003. <br /> <br />Also, during the June 3'd meeting Reclamation provided an update on the status of its review <br />ofthe Long-Range Operating Criteria for the Colorado River Reservoirs and its development of Interim <br />602(a) Storage Guidelines. Reclamation staff indicated that the decision regarding its review of the <br />Long-Range Operating Criteria is still at the Department of the Interior. Regarding the Interim 602(a) <br />Storage Guidelines, an administrative draft of the Biological Assessment (BA) has been prepared and <br />after that review the draft BA will be released for public review and comment. The draft BA is <br />expected to be released later this summer. <br /> <br />43 CFR ParI 417 Process <br /> <br />After V,S. District Court Judge Whelan issued a preliminary injunction in March barring the <br />Department ofthe Interior (DOl) from cutting Imperial Irrigation District's (lID) water order by about <br />300,000 acre-feet. the DOl, on April 24, 2003, published a notice in the Federal Register announcing: <br />(I) its intent to initiate a Part 4] 7 process for determination of beneficial use of Colorado River water <br />in the lID and (2) it would accept comments no later than May 29, 2003. <br /> <br />The Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD), the State of California, and National Audubon <br />Society were among 31 groups to file comments with Reclamation, CVWD's comments focused on <br />the amount of runoff, or tail water, that spills from the fanners' fields and drains into the Salton Sea. <br />The State of California's (Attorney General's Office) comments urged the federal government to <br />consider the state's beneficial use criteria in its review. The National Audubon Society is concerned <br />about how Reclamation will define the term "reasonable and beneficial use." It argues that lID's <br />traditional agricultural practices which allowed substantial tailwater and groundwater flows to reach <br />the Salton Sea were never challenged for reasonable and beneficial use and any change should be <br />considered a "major federal action," requiring NEPA review, The lID provided testimony in support <br />of its traditional fanning methods. <br /> <br />Arizona Water Settlement Act <br /> <br />On February 25, 2003, Arizona's V.S. Senator Kyl introduced S.437 (the "Arizona Water <br />Settlement Act") (the Act) into the 108th Congress to provide adjusbnents to the Central Arizona <br />Project, to authorize the Gila River Indian Community water rights settlement, and to authorize and <br />amend the Southern Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act of 1982. The Act reallocates 60,647 acre- feet <br /> <br />3 <br />