.1 . UPPER COLORADO 1 RIVER COMMISSION 355 South 400 East Salt Lake City 0 Utah 84111 0 801-531-1 150 0 FAX 801-531-9705 April 13, 2018 Mr. Tom Buschatzke, Director Arizona Department of Water Resources 3550 N. Central Ave #200 Phoenix, AZ 85012 We write to express our concern that deadlock over water management in Arizona threatens the health of the entire Colorado River basin. Lakes Powell and Mead remain at near historic low elevations, and the current projected in?ow into Lake Powell this year is 5.62 million acre-feet - only 52% of average. Without action, the current pattern of drought could draw Lake Powell to critical elevations and result in deep shortages in the Lower Basin within the next few years. The basin remains in a historic 18 year (and counting) drought. This has signi?cantly affected the Upper Basin, with large hydrologic shortages on an annual basis. However, during this time, the Lower Basin has continued on average to receive above-normal release volumes from Lake Powell. Nevertheless, Lake Mead is only at 41% capacity and is projected to continue to drop . This is because the Lower Basin uses exceed what a normal supply will support, also known as the "structural de?cit.? The consequence of this water supply and demand imbalance under the 2007 Interim Guidelines is to continue to pull above-normal releases from Lake Powell, as Ted Cooke's, General Manager of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District widely circulated "sweet spot? graphic illustrates. Representatives of Arizona, California, and Nevada have nearly ?nalized the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan a suite of measures to help prevent Lake Mead from falling below dangerously low elevations. The voluntary water use reductions contemplated by those measures are necessary in light of the continuing drought. As you know, the Upper Division States are also preparing to take actions in light of the continuing drought which will bene?t the Lower Basin. In particular, our proposed actions are all intended to protect Lake Powell elevations so that we may continue to assure full compliance with our obligations under the Colorado River Com pact. Yet, in-?ghting within Arizona has signi?cantly contributed to stalling collaborative and critical progress throughout the basin and has delayed Mexico's participation in similar reductions under Minute 323. Our concerns are heightened by the graphic displayed on CAWCD's website and relied upon in public presentations by Ted Cooke. Speci?cally, these efforts lay out CAWCD's strategy to intentionally maximize demands within the Central Arizona Project to induce larger than normal releases from Lake Powell. goal appears to be to delay agreement on drought plans in order to take advantage of what it terms the ?sweet spot" by drawing ?bonus water" from Lake Powell. Both characterizations indicate that CAWCD intends to disregard the basin?s dire situation at the expense of Lake Powell and all the other basin states. These statements undermine the collaboration we need now more than ever in this basin. With the current poor hydrology and high release volumes, Lake Powell is expected to drop approximately 30 feet within the next year. That is only about 7 feet above the 2007 Interim Guidelines? mid-elevation release tier requiring 7.48 MAF from Lake Powell. With continuing poor hydrology, attempts to maximize demands to increase releases from Lake Powell could ultimately accelerate low reservoir conditions in both the Upper and Lower Basins and cause shortages in Lake Mead. In 2007, as seven states, we agreed with the Department of the Interior on the adoption of the 2007 Interim Guidelines for, among other things, coordinated operations of Lakes Powell and Mead that bene?t the entire basin. statements run contrary to the spirit of interstate comity and cooperation that led to adoption of the 2007 Interim Guidelines. Its unilateral actions threaten the water supply for nearly 40 million people in the United States and Mexico, and threaten the interstate relationships and good will that must be maintained if we are to ?nd and implement collaborative solutions moving forward. As a result, consultation with the Governors of all Basin States, or their designated representatives, as provided under the 2007 Interim Guidelines, may be necessitated to resolve any claim or controversy. actions, and the current deadlock in Arizona, raise an additional matter. Together, the CAWCD, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Denver Water, and the Bureau of Reclamation have funded the successful System Conservation Pilot Program The Upper Colorado River Commission has acted as the contracting entity for that program in the Upper Basin. By compensating water users in both lower and upper basins to voluntarily and temporarily conserve water, this program has already contributed approximately 139,000 acre-feet of water for the bene?t of the entire Colorado River System. As with the 2007 Interim Guidelines, the SCPP is made possible through cooperation. The actions taken have been for the bene?t of the entire Colorado River System. The program was not designed or intended to subsidize inaction. Through its intentional maximization of demands, CAWCD has directed the system bene?ts of this program for its own use. As Upper Division States, we cannot facilitate the voluntary reduction in use intended to protect the water level in Lake Powell and the system as a whole, only to see water intentionally drawn out of that reservoir by another state. The Upper Division States and Upper Colorado River Commission are, therefore, forced to consider whether and how to proceed, if at all, with the SCPP going forward. Our sincere hope and desire is to resume cooperative work with the states of the Lower Division and their water users. We are prepared to re-initiate discussions on basin-wide solutions with the goal of withstanding continued water stress to the Colorado River system. If, however, our collaborative efforts continue to be delayed or manipulated, we will act to protect the Colorado River System and will urge others to do the same. es L. Eklund Upper Colorado River Commissioner State of Colorado E?w Mr. Tom C. Blaine Upper Colorado River Commissioner State of Mexico Mr. Patrick T. Tyrrell Upper Colorado River Commissioner State of Wyoming cc: California River Board of California Southern Nevada Water Authority Colorado River Commission-Nevada Central Arizona Water Conservation District Theodore C. Cooke Lisa A. Atkins Brent Rhees, Terry Fulp Commissioner of Reclamation Brenda Burman Mr. Eric L. Millis Upper Colorado River Commissioner State of Utah Ms Felicity Has/16E; Upper Colorado River Commissionerd? United tes Mr. Don A. Ostler Executive Director/Secretary Upper Colorado River Commission West l2lh Ave DENVER WATER 3332302320434? denverwoterorg April 16, 2018 SENT VIA EMAIL Lisa A. Atkins, Board President Theodore C. Cooke, General Manager Central Arizona Water Conservancy District 23636 North Seventeenth Street Phoenix, AZ 85024 Dear Ms. Atkins and Mr. Cooke: write in support of the April 13, 2018, letter from the upper basin Governors? representatives and Upper Colorado River Commission to Tom Buschatzke, Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Denver Water joins in urging rapid progress toward finalization of the lower basin drought contingency plan, and we support actions in the upper basin to ensure compliance with obligations under the Colorado River Compact. We also join the concerns over the manipulation of water demands through the Central Arizona Project. The actions by the Central Arizona Water Conservancy District severely compromise the trust and cooperation that has allowed us to develop the System Conservation Pilot Program. In the upper basin, this program was designed to temporarily and voluntarily compensate water users to forego their use of water to support critical water level elevations in Lake Powell. manipulation of demands in order to take advantage of the supposed ?sweet spot? in Lake Powell water releases undermines this purpose, and is unacceptable. Therefore, Denver Water is prepared to terminate our funding of the program after we meet our obligations in 2018, unless significant progress is made in the finalization of the lower basin drought contingency plan, and unless CAWCD is able to verifiably establish it has ceased all actions to manipulate demands and is fully participating in aggressive conservation measures along with other entities in Arizona. Sincerely, 1W4 -. S. Lochhead . /Manager cc: Brenda Burman, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation Torn Buschatzke, Arizona Department of Water Resources Bart Fisher, Colorado River Board of California John Entsminger, Southern Nevada Water Authority Jeff Kightlinger, Metropolitan Water District of So California James Eklund, Squire Patton Boggs Pat Tyrell, Wyoming State Engineer Eric Millis, Utah Division of Water Resources Tom Blaine, New Mexico State Engineer Don Ostler, Upper Colorado River Commission