Laserfiche WebLink
<br />, r- <br />~, , I "f) <br />oj ... .J ,:;) <br /> <br />SECTION I: THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS <br /> <br />A, PROCEDURAL HISTORY <br /> <br />On July 10, 2002, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) illltiated proceedings under <br />43 CF.R, Part 417 for calendar year 20031 by requesting that each contractor for <br />Colorado River water within the State of California provide its best estimates a, to their <br />water requirements for 2003, By letter dated September 9,2002, Imperial Inigallon <br />District (liD) provided Reclamation with lID's estimated 2003 Colorado River water <br />diversion requirements at Imperial Dam in the amount of 3, I 00,000 acre- feet and further <br />estimated that 104,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water would be available for <br />diversion from Lake Havasu for delivery to TIle Metropolitan Water District of Southern <br />California (MWD) in accordance with existing water conservation agreements, <br /> <br />On December 16, 2002 the Secretary of Interior adopted the 2003 Annual Operating Plan <br />for Colorado River System Reservoirs (2003 AOP), The applicable provisions of tlie <br />2003 AOP provide that use of mainstream Colorado River Water in the Lower Basin <br />States of Arizona, California, and Nevada in 2003 will be limited to 7,5 million acre-teet, <br />as provided in Article I1(B)(I) of the Decree in Arizona v, California, Under this <br />provision of the Decree, use of mainstream Colorado River water in the Lower Basin was <br />reduced from approximately 8.4 million acre- feet in 2002 to 7,5 million acre- feet in 2003, <br />Under the 2003 AOP, use in California is limited to 4.4 million acre-feet in 2003, <br /> <br />Annual water orders from California users, including I1D, totaled approximately <br />5,2 million acre-feet for 2003, Given these reductions in available supply and the <br />extraordinarily low inflow amounts within the Colorado Basin over the last four years, <br />Reclamation was required to review Lower Basin operations to assure that all delivelies <br />and diversions of mainstream water use are in strict accordance with the Decree, <br />applicable statutes, contracts, and agreements, and rules and regulations, <br /> <br />On December 27, 2002, the Department of the Interior (Interior) issued approved annual <br />water orders for users within the State of California totaling 4.4 million acre-feet, <br />consistent with the applicable provisions of the Supreme Court Decree and the 2003 <br />AOP, With respect to Imperiallnigation District, on December 27, 2002, Interior issued <br />an approved annual water order for liD for 2003 in the amount of 2,858,900 acrc- feet of <br />diversions at Imperial Dam and 104,000 acre- feet of diversions tl'om Lake Havasu for <br />delivery to MWD, The approved 2003 diverSions at Imperial Dam are subject to <br />adjustment in the event of an overuse repayment requirement for 2002, Simultaneously, <br />Interior issued annual water order approvals for other major users of Colorado River <br />water within the State of Cali fomi a, including Palo Verde Jnigation District (PVID), <br />Coachella Valley Inigation District (CVWD) and MWD, <br /> <br />i All references to years in this determination are made on a calendar year bas,s (i.e., frc:n J.J.n ! - Dec. 3! <br />of/he lefercnced year) <br /> <br />July 2, 2003 <br /> <br />7 <br /> <br />Determinations and Recommendations <br />For liD - Calendar Year 2003 <br />