Testimony of William E. Rinne

Deputy Commissioner ‑ U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

U.S. Department of the Interior

Before the Committee on Resources, Subcommittee on Water and Power

United States House of Representatives

on

The Era of Limits on the Colorado River

El Cajon, California

July 1, 2003

My name is William Rinne. I am a Deputy Commissioner with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation at the Department of the Interior.

Mr. Chairman. It is a pleasure to be here today representing the Department of the Interior to offer testimony with respect to the water management role of the Secretary of the Interior in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River and the recent public meetings the Bureau of Reclamation has held regarding “the Era of Limits on the Colorado River.”

Management of the lower Colorado River

The legal framework applicable to the management of the Lower Basin of the Colorado River is unique within the United States.  The role of the Secretary in matters relating to Colorado River management is authorized and constrained by numerous legal,, collectively known as the “Law of the River.” The Law of the River is principally defined by the 1922 Colorado River Compact, the Boulder Canyon Project Act of 1928, the water delivery contracts entered into under Section 5 of that Act, the federal reserved rights of Indian tribes, the Mexican Treaty of 1944 and the Minutes which apply its terms, the Colorado River Storage Project Act of 1956, the Colorado River Basin Project Act of 1968, the Colorado River Basin Salinity Act of 1974, and other federal statutes. 

Within the “Law of the River,” the clearest and most important articulation of the Secretary’s role as “watermaster” of the lower Colorado River is found in the 1963 opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Arizona v. California:

“All this vast, interlocking machinery – a dozen major works delivering water according to congressionally fixed priorities for home, agricultural, and industrial uses to people spread over thousands of square miles – could function efficiently only under unitary management, able to formulate and supervise a coordinated plan that could take account of the diverse, often conflicting interests of the people and communities of the Lower Basin States.  Recognizing this, Congress put the Secretary of the Interior in charge of these works and entrusted h[er] with sufficient power, principally the §5 contract power, to direct, manage, and coordinate their operation.”

The Secretary’s actions, as delegated to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), are specifically directed and limited by the permanent injunction entered by the Court in the 1964 Decree, as supplemented, in that case.  The Supreme Court’s Decree enjoins “the United States, its officers, attorneys, agents and employees” from operating the regulatory structures controlled by the United States except in strict accordance with the provisions of the Decree.  The primary structure that controls operations on the lower Colorado is Hoover Dam, a magnificent engineering achievement that remains one of the Southwest’s critical structures for water and power.  Hoover Dam was constructed under the authority of the Boulder Canyon Project Act - the statute that authorizes many of the activities within the Secretary’s watermaster function.

The Era Of Limits

For more than six decades, water supplies in the Colorado Basin have made it possible for Reclamation to meet all water needs within the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada.   The water storage reservoirs and hydroelectric production facilities constructed in the Colorado River system make it one of the most reliable and robust water management systems in the United States.  Nevertheless, the water of the Colorado River system is a finite resource that must be managed carefully to maximize its utility while sustaining its long-term resource values.

While reservoir storage within the Colorado Basin protects against the variability of the annual runoff that reaches the Basin, the current drought in the basin demonstrates that existing facilities and practices do not assure continuity in meeting water demands in the Basin. For instance, today Lake Mead stands lower than it has since the summer man first set foot on the moon in 1969.

In light of how increased demands and the current drought reinforce chronic water supply problems, Reclamation initiated a series of educational workshops to explain basic information about the Colorado’s yield, storage, and usage to the citizens who rely on the river.  Seven educational workshops have been held this year in all three Lower Basin States.

As part of its ongoing management of regulatory structures in the Colorado Basin, Reclamation conducts numerous studies to make the most educated projections we possibly can about future water supplies from the Colorado River.  These studies incorporate data such as the River's hydrologic history, current water supply information, projected population growth, projected water demand and other factors that are used to conduct hydrologic simulations of future water conditions.

Studies conducted to date indicate the river should supply enough water to meet the lower basin's basic annual consumptive use apportionment of 7.5 million acre-feet (maf) for many years to come.  But they also tell us there will be far fewer years when surplus water will be available as compared with the recent past.

In June 1990, Reclamation, recognizing the finite nature of the Colorado River resource and the growing demand for Colorado River water in the southwest United States, observed that “we begin to enter an era envisioned by those far-sighted planners who made the hard choices when the compacts and laws governing the river were written. . . a new era. . . an era of limits.”

Let me review a few basic principles: The Colorado River's annual flow is comprised mostly of snowmelt that flows from the high mountains of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.  This annual flow can vary greatly.  Since record-keeping began in 1906, the annual river flows have ranged from a low of five million acre-feet to a high of more than 24 maf.

The water storage system that exists on the Colorado River today was built to “even out” these annual periods of highs and lows, ensuring a year-round supply of water for use by the seven Basin States and Mexico.

The Law of the River specifies who can use Colorado River water, how much they can use, and under what conditions.  As recently noted by U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson: “[A] Supreme Court injunction, an international treaty, federal statutes, and contracts between the government and water users account for every acre foot of lower Colorado River water.” Within this system, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to operate and manage the Colorado River in consultation with the Colorado River Basin States.

The 1922 Colorado River Compact apportioned water between the upper and lower basins of the Colorado River.  Within the Lower Basin, the Boulder Canyon Project Act of 1928 allocated 7.5 million acre feet among the Lower Basin states of Arizona (2.8 maf), California (4.4 maf) and Nevada (0.3 maf).  This statute also required all Colorado River water users in the Lower Basin to have valid contracts with the Secretary for that water.

Until 2003, water has been available to Arizona, Nevada and California beyond their basic annual entitlements because:

·           The water storage system that has been built on the Colorado River ensures a stable, long-term water supply.  While droughts impact the river's water supply, the storage system has carried the river through several periods of drought.

·           Winter snowfall in the headwaters of the Colorado River system in past years has been sufficient to refill the system’s reservoirs as recently as 2000.

·           Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico were not using all of their Colorado River water supply.

·           Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico also did not need to rely so extensively upon water stored in Lake Powell to protect against demands upon the Upper Basin’s other reservoirs to deliver Colorado River water to Mexico under the US-Mexican Water Treaty.

·           Until the mid-1990's, neither Arizona nor Nevada fully used its basic apportionment of Colorado River water, making unused water available for use by California.

Today the Lower Basin states of Arizona, Nevada and California are each using their full basic Colorado River apportionments.  As a result, there is no “unused” water in the Lower Basin.  While demand for water has increased, the current drought has reduced supply.  Thus, the Bureau must more carefully consider optimal management of the limited supplies of the Colorado River.

In the recent past, Lower Basin use has exceeded 8.5 maf (one maf over basic apportionment).  We project that in future years the Colorado River may not supply enough water to meet increasing demands in the three lower basin states.  In most years, these states will receive only their basic annual entitlement of 7.5 maf.  There will be future years when extra water is available, but those years will be the exception, not the norm.  The Secretary’s Interim Surplus Guidelines, adopted in 2001, do not guarantee that surplus water will be available if surface levels in Lake Mead are too low.

River Management in the “Era of Limits”

Through its recent workshops and as part of its ongoing consultations with the representatives of the Basin States, Reclamation has been considering appropriate strategies for the future management of the Colorado.

How the River is managed impacts all Colorado River water users, particularly in the lower basin.  Everyone with a right to Colorado River water must carefully consider how they manage and use that water.  State and Federal law requires that it be used reasonably and beneficially.  In cases of limited water in storage, as in 2003, misuse by even one user may have a direct and immediate impact on the availability of water for others.

Improvements in River management made by Reclamation include:

·           enhanced measurement systems will allow for more accurate accounting of Colorado River water use as Reclamation prepares its Decree Accounting reports each year - and will also give water users more accurate information on which to manage their supplies;

·           newly developed interstate water banking regulations provide a means for water users in different states to help each other, which should result in significant water savings each year and help stretch the available water supply to meet the Southwest's growing water demand.

In addition, Reclamation’s water management activities, undertaken in concert with the lower basin states, will continue to include:

·           limiting diversions to authorized uses of Colorado River water;

·           enhanced attention to unauthorized uses of Colorado River water;

·           adherence to water orders and entitlements;

·           public education efforts on the need to manage and conserve the precious and limited water supplies of the Colorado.

Careful Colorado River Management Benefits Everyone

Information gathered in studies the Bureau conducted show that it is important for all Colorado River water users and managers to examine how we use water.  We need to manage use se we do not excessively deplete reservoirs to the detriment of future needs, detrimentally affect the River’s water quality, or diminish the economic well-being of the many communities that depend on the river for water supply.

Reclamation is committed to do its part to help ensure that the waters of the Colorado River are managed and used wisely to achieve the greatest benefit possible for the many who depend on these waters.

We will have to work together better than ever before in this new era.  Whether you are a water manager, a water provider, the grower who waters  a crop, or one who draws water out of a tap, we all have an important role to play in how the Colorado River will be managed and used in the future.  Together, we can manage the River and our reliance upon it to meet our mutual needs.

This concludes my testimony. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.