11/14/2000 895

PLAN TO LIMIT WATER FLOWS TO COLORADO RIVER DELTA OPPOSED

Six conservation groups led by Southwest Rivers and including the Center have sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation opposing its proposed declaration of "surplus" conditions in the Colorado River basin for the year 2001. The proposed surplus determination comes in response to California demands for far more water than its legal allocation instead of being more logically based on the condition of watershed runoff. Dry conditions have lowered reservoir water levels, thereby increasing the risk of shortages and harm to the river’s fragile delta if dry conditions continue into 2001.

The groups are concerned with Reclamation’s decision because a declared surplus will reduce the amount of water reaching the river’s imperiled delta ecosystem. Massive upstream dams and diversions have eliminated 95% of former delta wetlands and have pushed to the edge of extinction Vaquita porpoise, Totoaba fish and Southwestern willow flycatcher. No water is allocated for maintenance of the delta ecosystem, and currently the Colorado River only flows through the delta and to the Sea of Cortez in wet years when all the water cannot be captured in reservoirs or diverted into canals. A surplus determination will compound this problem by reducing the amount of water stored behind Hoover Dam, thereby reducing the likelihood of delta-benefitting flood control releases.