REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

March 2008

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U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Finalizes Guidelines for Colorado River Shortages and Reservoir Coordination

On December 13, 2007 Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne signed a historic decision that will implement new management strategies on the Colorado River. The new Interim Guidelines are the result of an agreement brokered among all seven states in the Colorado River Basin, and the decision is seen as one of the most important developments on the River since the 1922 Colorado River Compact. The Interim Guidelines address the most pertinent and contentious issue facing the Colorado River—drought. They establish binding drought management guidelines and a plan for coordinated reservoir operations, attempting to reduce litigation and give water users a predictable measure of water availability in times of shortage. Contractors in California have taken the Interim Guidelines’ conservation opportunities seriously, executing several agreements for the creation and distribution of “intentionally created surplus” water.