43 U.S.C. § 1552 — Criteria for long-range operation of reservoirs

submitted 58 years ago by Pub. L. 90-537 to r/title-43-PUBLIC-LANDS · 655 words · no verdicts yet

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The Secretary must propose and adopt criteria for coordinated long-term reservoir operations that follow specified compacts and priorities, then report and sometimes revise them.

(a) To comply with the Colorado River Compact, Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, and Mexican Water Treaty, the Secretary must propose criteria for coordinated long-term operation of reservoirs built under the Colorado River Storage Project Act, Boulder Canyon Project Act, and Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act. The criteria must prioritize: (1) releases supplying one-half of any Upper Division deficiency described in Compact article III(c), except no release is required in a year covered by the section 1512 determination and proclamation; (2) releases required by article III(d), minus qualifying water delivered below Lee Ferry from other sources; and (3) storage needed, after consultation with the Upper Colorado River Commission and Lower Division representatives and consideration of relevant water-supply factors, to assure those releases without harming upper-basin annual consumptive uses. Water not needed for that storage must be released from Lake Powell to the extent reasonably usable for article III(e) uses, but not when Powell’s active storage is less than Lake Mead’s; to keep their active storage as nearly equal as practicable; and to avoid expected Powell spills. (b) By January 1, 1970, the Secretary must submit proposed criteria to the seven Basin-State Governors and other appropriate parties for comment. After comments, and by July 1, 1970, the Secretary must adopt and publish criteria in the Federal Register. Beginning January 1, 1972, yearly reports must describe the prior compact water year’s actual operation and the current year’s projected operation. The Secretary may later modify the criteria because of operating experience or unforeseen events only after corresponding with the Governors and consulting their designated representatives. (c) Section 7 of the Colorado River Storage Project Act must be administered under these criteria.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) Promulgation by Secretary; order of priorities

In order to comply with and carry out the provisions of the Colorado River Compact, the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, and the Mexican Water Treaty, the Secretary shall propose criteria for the coordinated long-range operation of the reservoirs constructed and operated under the authority of the Colorado River Storage Project Act [43 U.S.C. 620 et seq.], the Boulder Canyon Project Act [43 U.S.C. 617 et seq.], and the Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act [43 U.S.C. 618 et seq.]. To effect in part the purposes expressed in this paragraph, the criteria shall make provision for the storage of water in storage units of the Colorado River storage project and releases of water form Lake Powell in the following listed order of priority:

(1)

releases to supply one-half the deficiency described in article III(c) of the Colorado River Compact, if any such deficiency exists and is chargeable to the States of the Upper Division, but in any event such releases, if any, shall not be required in any year that the Secretary makes the determination and issues the proclamation specified in section 1512 of this title;

(2)

releases to comply with article III(d) of the Colorado River Compact, less such quantities of water delivered into the Colorado River below Lee Ferry to the credit of the States of the Upper Division from other sources; and

(3)

storage of water not required for the releases specified in clauses (1) and (2) of this subsection to the extent that the Secretary, after consultation with the Upper Colorado River Commission and representatives of the three Lower Division States and taking into consideration all relevant factors (including, but not limited to, historic stream-flows, the most critical period of record, and probabilities of water supply), shall find this to be reasonably necessary to assure deliveries under clauses (1) and (2) without impairment of annual consumptive uses in the upper basin pursuant to the Colorado River Compact: Provided, That water not so required to be stored shall be released from Lake Powell: (i) to the extent it can be reasonably applied in the States of the Lower Division to the uses specified in article III(e) of the Colorado River Compact, but no such releases shall be made when the active storage in Lake Powell is less than the active storage in Lake Mead, (ii) to maintain, as nearly as practicable, active storage in Lake Mead equal to the active storage in Lake Powell, and (iii) to avoid anticipated spills from Lake Powell.

(b) Submittal of criteria for review and comment; publication; report to Congress

Not later than January 1, 1970, the criteria proposed in accordance with the foregoing subsection (a) of this section shall be submitted to the Governors of the seven Colorado River Basin States and to such other parties and agencies as the Secretary may deem appropriate for their review and comment. After receipt of comments on the proposed criteria, but not later than July 1, 1970, the Secretary shall adopt appropriate criteria in accordance with this section and publish the same in the Federal Register. Beginning January 1, 1972, and yearly thereafter, the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress and to the Governors of the Colorado River Basin States a report describing the actual operation under the adopted criteria for the preceding compact water year and the projected operation for the current year. As a result of actual operating experience or unforeseen circumstances, the Secretary may thereafter modify the criteria to better achieve the purposes specified in subsection (a) of this section, but only after correspondence with the Governors of the seven Colorado River Basin States and appropriate consultation with such State representatives as each Governor may designate.

Section 7 of the Colorado River Storage Project Act [43 U.S.C. 620f] shall be administered in accordance with the foregoing criteria.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 90–537, title VI, § 602, Sept. 30, 1968, 82 Stat. 900.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1968Enacted · Pub. L. 90-537 · 82 Stat. 900

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 90-537 on 1968-09-30.

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