Annual Operating Plan for Colorado River Reservoirs, 2012.

摘要

Each years Annual Operating Plan (AOP) for Colorado River Reservoirs reports on both the past operations of the Colorado River reservoirs for the completed year as well as projected operations and releases from these reservoirs for the current (i.e., upcoming) year. Accordingly, this 2011 AOP reports on 2010 operations as well as projected operations for 2011. In recent years, additional operational rules, guidelines, and decisions have been put into place for Colorado River reservoirs including the 1996 Glen Canyon Dam Record of Decision (ROD), the 1997 Operating Criteria for Glen Canyon Dam, the 1999 Off-stream Storage of Colorado River Water Rule (43 CFR Part 414), the 2001 Interim Surplus Guidelines addressing operation of Hoover Dam, the 2006 Flaming Gorge Dam ROD, the 2006 Navajo Dam ROD to implement recommended flows for endangered fish, the 2007 Interim Guidelines for the operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, and numerous environmental assessments addressing experimental releases from Glen Canyon Dam. The purpose of the AOP is to illustrate the potential range of reservoir operations that might be expected in the upcoming water year, and to determine or address: (1) the quantity of water considered necessary to be in storage in the Upper Basin reservoirs as of September 30, 2011, pursuant to Section 602(a) of the CRBPA; (2) water available for delivery pursuant to the 1944 United States-Mexico Water Treaty and Minutes No. 242, 314, and 318 of the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico (IBWC); (3) whether the reasonable consumptive use requirements of mainstream users in the Lower Division States will be met under a Normal, Surplus, or Shortage Condition as outlined in Article III of the Operating Criteria and as implemented by the Interim Guidelines; and (4) whether water apportioned to, but unused by one or more Lower Division States, exists and can be used to satisfy beneficial consumptive use requests of mainstream users in other Lower Division States as provided in the Consolidated Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States in Arizona v. California, 547 U.S. 150 (2006) (Consolidated Decree).