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<br /> <br />,.,,," <br /> <br />" <br /><'~ <br /> <br />UN:nD STATES <br />DEPARTMENT Of THE INTERIOR <br /> <br />News Release <br /> <br />STATEMENT BY SECRETARY Of THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALl <br />ON THE COLORADO RfVER BASIN WATER SITUATION, MAY 11, 1964 <br /> <br />At noon today, on my order the gates at Glen Canyon Dam were closed. <br />This was one of the most dlffIcllt decislOns I have had to make as Secretary, <br />and I have called this confere'1ce to discuss its ramifications with you. <br />The gates'were opened tempordnly in March to maintain elevatlOn 1.123 at <br />Lake Mead. This actlop was fa ken because the March I forecast of runoff <br />indicated too great a risk of s'"bstantial expense to the Upper Basin if the <br />April-July runoff of the river uJI'1ed out to be substantially less than the then <br />mean forecast of 4,700,000 acre ~feet. <br /> <br />The extremely dry wi'lter made It lIkely that an even lesser actual <br />runoff would actually occur, Any program other than that,adopted could <br />easily have resulted iT: destroY1Pg the power operation at Hoover Without <br />achieving the o!;Jlectlve of gal:1JTlg miroimum operati'1g level at Lake Powell. <br /> <br />As promised at that nrne, 1 have maintained close surveillance of <br />the precipitation sltuatlOn in 'he Upper Colorado Basin. March precipitation <br />was average, The May snow s'lrveys and Weather Bureau records disclose <br />that the April precipitation Wd s somewhat above average. The Weather <br />Bureau's long range forecast for May -- "cooler than usual: wetter than <br />usual" -- is also favorable" <br /> <br />I' <br /> <br />, <br />i <br />I <br /> <br />The mean foreca st for ArIl I - July now stands at' 5.1 millIon acre- <br />feet. The mirumum forecast ls'3.6 millJcn., ThIS forecast itself dces not, of <br />course, provide the assurance of 5.1 mlllron acre-feet of actual runoff <br />because we do not know what the preclpltatlOn Will be for May, June. and <br />July. In terms of assured runnff it means that there is a 90 percent chance <br />that we will get at least 3.6 milli.on acre-feet. <br /> <br />i <br />" <br /> <br />The hazards are now reduced to a pOlnt where I have concluded that <br />the calculated risk Involved ir. resllmptlOn cf storage ir. Lake Powell is <br />warranted under certain Cor:dltlO'1S. These assure that. in attempting to <br />bring Lake Powell to mir'imum power operati:c.g level in what is sull a year <br />of very poor runoff, the obJectives of the hllJr.g critena will be fulfilled. <br /> <br />This can be done by acq'l][]'lg apd furmshmg replacement capacIty <br />and energy to the Hoover pow'?r allottees in the same quantities and having <br /> <br />-459- <br /> <br />I <br />