Federal Reservoirs Research Articles

Featured Collection Introduction: Severe Sustained Drought Revisited: Managing the Colorado River System in Times of Water Shortage 25 Years Later — Part I

Featured Collection Introduction: Severe Sustained Drought Revisited: Managing the Colorado River System in Times of Water Shortage 25 Years Later — Part I

Brazilian continental aquaculture: a model for the development of its regularization

The Brazilian fish farming in Federal reservoirs is being discouraged by the country's current legal system due to the bureaucracy and the involvement of many agencies. This research provides a survey of the problems related to the current processes of Authorization of Aquaculture in Federal Waterbodies and Environmental Licensing of the activity and develops a model that gathers theories for improving these processes. In order to do this, 68 questionnaires were applied to key-agents of the sector from different regions of the country. Also, a Grounded Theory methodology was used to organize, code, and analyze the data collected and to outline the model of the main emerging theories. The model revealed 21 recommendations to unlock and accelerate the current process of regularization. Putting some of these actions into practice, it’s believed that fish farming would be able to attract new and old interested parties, reducing many illegal enterprises.

Will future climate change increase the risk of violating minimum flow and maximum temperature thresholds below dams in the Pacific Northwest?

Detecting and avoiding environmental thresholds that lead to catastrophic change in ecological communities is an important goal, and one that is especially challenging to address over broad geographic extents. Here, we conducted a regional-scale climate vulnerability assessment (RCVA) to quantify the risk of violating thermal and minimum-flow thresholds below reservoirs. Our analysis used hybrid (process-based and empirical) models of tailwater temperature and flow driven by 4-km downscaled CMIP5 climate projections. Downscaling employed a combination of process-based models, quantile mapping, and a non-linear ‘reservoir’ transform function. RCVA can be applied at regional scales without proprietary and data-intensive physical models of reservoir systems or ecological models of species that comprise tailwater communities. Using RCVA, we produced ensemble projections of risk and duration of extreme high-temperature or low-flow events below federal reservoirs in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), USA. Bayesian modeling of simulated results allowed us to evaluate differences between risk under a future and baseline scenario relative to model uncertainties and to quantify uncertainty in modeled risks. Based on assumptions that historical patterns of reservoir dynamics and operation will continue, and that regulatory thresholds will not change, the risk of thermal exceedance was projected to increase by an average of 0.27 and extend into late-spring and fall (average change in duration of 10.3 d). For flow, RCVA projected an increase of 0.07 in the average risk below-thresholds flows, with an average increase in duration of 4.6 d. Both results raise concerns that cold-water salmonids of the PNW will be at increased risk under a future climate scenario.

Channel Evolution Models as Predictors of Sediment Yield

AbstractThis paper recounts our predictions of channel evolution of the Black Vermillion River (BVR) and sediment yields associated with the evolutionary sequence. Channel design parameters allowed for the prediction of stable channel form and coincident sediment yields. Measured erosion rates and basin‐specific bank erosion curves aided in prediction of the stream channel succession time frame. This understanding is critical in determining how and when to mitigate a myriad of instability consequences. The BVR drains approximately 1,062 km2 in the glaciated region of Northeast Kansas. Once tallgrass prairie, the basin has been modified extensively for agricultural production. As such, channelization has shortened the river by nearly 26 km from pre‐European dimensions; shortening combined with the construction of numerous flow‐through structures have produced dramatic impacts on discharge and sediment dynamics. Nine stream reaches were established within three main tributaries of the BVR in 2007. Reaches averaged 490 m in length, were surveyed, and assessed for channel stability, while resurveys were conducted annually through 2010 to monitor change. This work illustrates the association of current stream state, in‐channel sediment contributions, and prediction of future erosion rates based on stream evolution informed by multiple models. Our findings suggest greater and more rapid sedimentation of a federal reservoir than has been predicted using standard sediment prediction methods.

Simulating system‐wide effects of reducing irrigation withdrawals in a disputed river basin

AbstractStakeholders in river systems often target larger upstream water consumers as an intuitive solution for increasing flows for downstream ecological needs. Within regulated river systems, simplistic panaceas may have unexpected and unintended results at a watershed level. The Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin is a large watershed in the south‐eastern United States whose management has been the source of conflict for several decades. This paper tests the hypothesis of whether a reduction in consumptive losses to Flint River flows through the large‐scale implementation of water‐saving agricultural irrigation technologies and practices will have a positive effect on downstream ecosystem water requirements in the Apalachicola River. An existing integrated reservoir/reach model was used to explore multiple irrigation water use scenarios.Because of current federal reservoir operating rules in the Chattahoochee River, irrigation decreases in the Flint River do not always directly translate to elevated flows downstream in the Apalachicola River. In drought years, a large percentage of the Flint River water savings is captured as greater storage volume at upstream Chattahoochee reservoirs because of a requirement to supplement downstream flows to a prescribed minimum level. In nondrought years, the majority of irrigation decreases translate to increased flow in the Apalachicola River. Given these simulation results, public policy decisions need to be formulated with regard to what portion of the Flint River water savings from changing irrigation practices in drought years should be allocated to the upstream Chattahoochee storage reservoirs and what portion to supporting downstream environmental and social needs in the Apalachicola watershed.

Low-Flow River Regulation in Kansas Verdigris Basin: State, Federal, and Tribal Legal Involvement

AbstractFederal agency reservoir operations and statutory, regulatory, and compact legal provisions affecting water in the Verdigris Basin in Kansas were analyzed for consistency. State statutes create a system of prior appropriation that incorporates vested riparian rights and a water-marketing contract program for state-owned storage in federal reservoirs. Minimum streamflow target flows for the Verdigris Basin in Kansas are outlined as a part of federal reservoir operations instead of state statute. The Kansas–Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact sets flow expectations and maximum reservoir conservation storage that can be developed in the basin, but does not address issues of reliance on current flows, climate change, or the possibility of the assertion of water rights by the tribes in Oklahoma and Kansas. Although the Kansas water management system works well in the field, potential legal issues could be minimized by consolidation of statutes and regulations regarding flow regulation in the Verdigris Basi...

Reservoir Sedimentation Challenges Kansas

Kansas faces the challenge of reduced surface water storage in eastern Kansas caused by sedimentation of its reservoirs. The 24 federal reservoirs in Kansas have an average age of about 50 years and current estimates indicate that 17% of their collective storage capacity (originally 3.2M ac-ft.) has been lost to sedimentation. Six of these reservoirs are already more than 33% infilled. So basic in all ways is ecology and hydrology to the functioning of a region that changes in water storage and movement and how both may be managed must be carefully followed. Also we discuss the merits of four types of remediation for addressing reservoir infilling, recognizing that combinations of methods can be used, and that water conservation is essential. Also we describe the important role of research and monitoring facilities at research stations in Kansas where controlled experiments identifying cause and effect relationships can provide insight for reservoir management.

Reservoir Sedimentation and Storage Capacity in the United States: Management Needs for the 21st Century

The United States federal government invested significant resources to build dams in the mid-twentieth century to increase water storage capacity nationwide (Fig. 1); while only 5% of the dams in the United States are federally owned, they account for 61% of the total national storage capacity (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams, http://geo.usace.army .mil/nid/). Reservoir storage capacity has been valuable for a variety of national purposes—when some of the reservoir capacity is empty, it is valuable to store flood waters, whereas when it is full of water, it is valuable for purposes including water supply, hydropower, or flow stabilization for navigation. This is an important yet subtle consideration for water management and hydraulic engineering: with the exception of turbines for generating power, the dam is not the resource, the reservoir storage capacity is the resource, and that resource is finite. Society is increasingly dependent on this storage capacity due to increased water demand, increased population growth on floodplains protected by flood control dams, or increased demand on hydropower as a critical part of the electricity grid. Simultaneously, reservoir sedimentation diminishes storage capacity. Thus, there is a persistent chronic loss of the very resource upon which many aspects of modern society depend. Any diminishing resource for which there is increasing demand merits being regularly measured, assessed, and efficiently managed relative to society’s expectations and dependence. Reservoir storage capacity is no different. In some ways, reservoir storage capacity is similar to a retirement nest egg. Like a retirement nest egg, reservoir storage capacity represents a large investment over decades that provides real longterm benefits, even as it decreases over time; reservoir storage capacity is essentially consumed by sedimentation. It would be irresponsible not to periodically monitor the value of the nest egg as it is drawn down and thereby assess whether it is sufficient to support the expected rate of spending. If the nest egg is declining faster than expected or not nearly as fast as expected, the prudent action would be to reallocate some of the assets from one type to another in recognition of the actual rate of decline. It is similarly irresponsible to not regularly measure, assess, and adaptively manage the enormous investments made over the past century in federal reservoir storage capacity. While reservoir sedimentation can be reversed via active sediment management (e.g., dredging, sediment bypassing), such actions are often extremely expensive. Even then, estimating the quantity and timing of active sediment management requires similar appreciation for rates of capacity loss. We propose here that (1) our ongoing measurements of reservoir storage capacity are insufficient to adequately quantify the rate of storage capacity loss, (2) some reservoirs are filling at rates far different from what was expected, and (3) storage space should be managed, potentially via reallocation, to better utilize the existing resource.

History and Current Situation of River Management using Physical Habitat Models in the U.S. and Japan

History of Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) Following the large reservoir and water development era of the mid-twentieth century in North America, resource agencies became concerned over the loss of many miles of riverine fish and wildlife resources in the arid western United States. Consequently, several western states began issuing rules for protecting existing stream resources from future depletions caused by accelerated water development. Many assessment methods appeared during the 1960’s and early 1970’s. These techniques were based on hydrologic analysis of the water supply and hydraulic considerations of critical stream channel segments, coupled with empirical observations of habitat quality and an understanding of riverine fish ecology. Following enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970, attention was shifted from minimum flows to the evaluation of alternative designs and operations of federally funded water projects. Methods capable of quantifying the effect of incremental changes in stream flow to evaluate a series of possible alternative development schemes were needed. This need led to the development of habitat versus discharge functions developed from life stage-specific relations for selected species, that is, fish passage, spawning, and rearing habitat versus flow for trout or salmon. During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, an era of small hydropower development began. Hundreds of proposed hydropower sites in the Pacific Northwest and New England regions of the United States came under intensive examination by state and federal fishery management interests. During this transition period from evaluating large federal reservoirs to evaluating license applications for small hydropower, the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) was developed under the guidance of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Doomed reservoirs in Kansas, USA? Climate change and groundwater mining on the Great Plains lead to unsustainable surface water storage

Summary Streamflow declines on the Great Plains of the US are causing many Federal reservoirs to become profoundly inefficient, and will eventually drive them into unsustainability as negative annual reservoir water budgets become more common. The streamflow declines are historically related to groundwater mining, but since the mid-1980s correlate increasingly with climate. This study highlights that progression toward unsustainability, and shows that future climate change will continue streamflow declines at historical rates, with severe consequences for surface water supply. An object lesson is Optima Lake in the Oklahoma Panhandle, where streamflows have declined 99% since the 1960s and the reservoir has never been more than 5% full. Water balances for the four westernmost Federal reservoirs in Kansas (Cedar Bluff, Keith Sebelius, Webster and Kirwin) show similar tendencies. For these four, reservoir inflow has declined by 92%, 73%, 81% and 64% respectively since the 1950s. Since 1990 total evaporated volumes relative to total inflows amounted to 68%, 83%, 24% and 44% respectively. Predictions of streamflow and reservoir performance based on climate change models indicate 70% chance of steady decline after 2007, with a ∼ 50% chance of failure (releases by gravity flow impossible) of Cedar Bluff Reservoir between 2007 and 2050. Paradoxically, a 30% chance of storage increase prior 2020 is indicated, followed by steady declines through 2100. Within 95% confidence the models predict > 50% decline in surface water resources between 2007 and 2050. Ultimately, surface storage of water resources may prove unsustainable in this region, forcing conversion to subsurface storage.

Review of freshwater mussel harvest in Kansas 1992–2002

Prior to 1992 all streams and Federal reservoirs in Kansas were open to mussel harvest with an approved permit. In 1992, the harvest of freshwater mussels in Kansas was limited to five species, and the streams open to harvest were limited to four rivers; all Federal reservoirs remained open. The weight of mussels harvested from Kansas streams peaked in 1996 and the harvest in reservoirs peaked in 1997. From 1997 to 2002 harvest declined steadily each year. To preserve mussel populations, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks established a 10-year moratorium on harvest of freshwater mussels in Kansas in 2003.

Contesting Pollution in Dixie: The Case of Corney Creek

NATIONAL SURVEYS OF WATER QUALITY IN THE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY repeatedly identified the U.S. urban industrial core--the heavily populated areas of the Northeast and Midwest--as the (see Figure 1). (1) In 1956 Congress strengthened the U.S. Public Health Service's ability to intervene in interstate pollution conflicts, and the might logically have been the setting for the first enforcement effort. Rather, Corney Creek, an obscure stream in Louisiana (see Figure 2), was the initial battleground for federal action in 1957. Corney Creek is one of several waterways that drain a small rural basin that straddles the Louisiana-Arkansas state line. Concerns about water quality arose there after crude-oil production commenced in the basin's upper reaches during the late 1930s. A decade later, both Louisiana and federal agencies had documented an obvious pollution problem resulting from brine discharges from oil wells into surface waters. Soon thereafter, sport fishermen in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, complained of fish kills in the creek and in Corney Lake, a federal reservoir that impounded the stream's flow. These circumstances were unremarkable in the oil fields of Louisiana, Arkansas, and nearby Texas. Yet, sportsmen's complaints ultimately triggered the first federal interstate water pollution hearing. In contrast, subsequent enforcement actions elsewhere required a public health issue to provoke action. Of all the instances of stream pollution in the 1950s, what prodded a cautious federal agency to react in this case? What elevated a few fish kills in a tiny tributary to the Ouachita River to a status that justified federal intervention? [FIGURES 1-2 OMITTED] While some answers to these questions are particular to the situation, the Corney Creek pollution case also provides insight into far larger issues in the emerging efforts to protect water quality in the United States and particularly in the South. This example highlights three points about southern environmental history: (1) unlike the Northeast and Midwest, southern pollution abatement began with natural resource protection, not urban public health, (2) contrary to the typical historical interpretation that southern states tolerated pollution caused by new industries, citizens of the region exhibited a fundamental popular opposition to environmental degradation, and (3) residents affected by pollution sought assistance from parish authorities, who turned directly to federal agencies rather than relying on state officials. These factors put a particularly southern frame around the situation. Historians of the South have long recognized the importance of the environment--particularly in terms of agricultural pursuits and public health--even if writing explicitly on environmental history has been a bit thin. (2) Yet this particular environmental conflict had several distinctively southern elements. The Corney Creek incident centered on a location that was in transition from a rural agricultural society to a more urbanized and industry-oriented locale. Places across the former cotton belt passed through similar adjustments, and each endured numerous alterations that were bound up in local policy, economics, environment, and tradition. In this respect, the Corney Creek basin characterizes much of the upland South and represents a broader pattern. One of the critical elements of this situation was the primacy of natural resources over public health in pollution policy. Government bodies certainly did not ignore public health in the South, but waterborne diseases took a secondary place to vector-borne illnesses and dietary ailments. Yellow fever plagued the South during the nineteenth century, but as medical science rejected the miasmatic theory in favor of insect-delivered bacteria, policies shifted to pest control. (3) Widespread installation of public sewer systems offered southern cities a means to reduce typhoid and diarrhea, but the intended purpose of the sewers was to export effluent from urban areas, which actually contributed to downstream pollution. …

Reallocation of Federal Multipurpose Reservoirs: Principles, Policy, and Practice

Most federal reservoirs in operation throughout the United States serve multiple purposes, typically, flood control, hydropower, navigation, recreation, water quality, irrigation, and municipal water supply. In the decades since many of these projects were first constructed, social preferences for how they should be operated and the purposes they should serve have changed, in some cases substantially. Changes in demand, expressed as society’s willingness to pay for services provided, may prompt reallocation, ordinarily defined as a change in reservoir operating rules and operational priorities. Reservoir storage is a convenient measure of operational priorities and project costs carried by the various purposes served. Assuming project storage to be in most cases fixed by original design, significant questions of fairness and economic efficiency arise with respect to the redistribution of benefits and costs after reallocation. Fairness questions center on distribution of costs and benefits, while efficienc...

Construction Damages a Prehistoric Caddo Indian Archaeological Site at the City of Gilmer's proposed Lake Gilmer, Upshur County, Texas

In March 1996, the archaeological work being conducted at the proposed Lake Gilmer was called to a halt by the archaeological contractor (Horizon Environmental Services of Austin, Texas) and the City of Gilmer long before the required archaeological mitigation of important prehistoric Caddo sites had been completed. The reasons are still somewhat obscure. After a delay of more than 1.5 years in the completion of the archaeological investigations at the proposed Lake Gilmer, a federal and state-permitted reservoir in Northeast Texas, the Division of Antiquities Protection at the Texas Historical Commission has taken up the task of completing the archaeological work, following the legal dictates laid down by State Representative Bob Glaze during the last legislative session. This work will apparently concentrate on completing the investigations of 4JUR133, a large Middle (ca. A.D. 1200-1400) and Late Caddoan (ca. A.D. 1400- 1680) period habitation site. While the work at 41UR133 is long over-due, we believe that additional archaeological investigations are warranted at Lake Gilmer evaluation of the research significance of a recently discovered Caddo Indian site within the Lake Gilmer floodpool that has been damaged by reservoir construction-related activities, and evaluation of the research significance of the more than 30 archaeological sites discovered within the reservoir floodpool since 1996 by the Northeast Texas Archaeological Society. All of these sites must be considered by state law to be State Archeological Landmarks since they are on land owned by the City of Gilmer (a political subdivision), and they warrant further consideration. In this paper, we discuss site 41UR210 (the 852 Bridge site), a previously unreported and newly discovered prehistoric Caddo Indian site that has been damaged by construction activities associated with the proposed Lake Gilmer project in Upshur County, Texas. The site is on a small alluvial terrace adjacent to Kelsey Creek, on property owned by the City of Gilmer, and it was not recorded during the archeological survey completed for the project several years ago. Kelsey Creek is a tributary of Little Cypress Creek. This prehistoric Caddo Indian site has been damaged by construction-related activities associated with the construction of a new and higher bridge on FM 852 that will cross over the proposed Lake Gilmer. The site has been damaged by blading and bulldozing activities to obtain sand, and sediments have been removed to an unknown depth over an area more than 2 acres in size. Considerable amounts of prehistoric Caddoan vessel and pipe ceramic sherds have been exposed in this damaged area, and it is considered likely that prehistoric habitation features (middens and structural features)--as well as Caddo burial features--are present at the site, and may have already been damaged.

Divvying Atlantis: Who Owns the Land Beneath Navigable Manmade Reservoirs?

I. INTRODUCTION For over a century, the federal government has been permitting dam-building on navigable rivers to create artificial reservoirs for irrigation, reclamation, and-electrical power. Congress has granted dam permits under various legislation to both utilities and federal agencies.(1) Many of these federally flooded lands, containing oil, natural gas, precious minerals, and shellfish, have growing value. In addition, these lands serve as habitat for fish, wildlife, and plants. This ripening underwater investment poses the question of who owns the artificial Atlantean domains: the utilities, the states, or the federal government? It presents an issue not yet confronted by any court. This, article advocates for state ownership of the artificial federal reservoir basins. It first reviews the origin of the issue -- why states might formulate such a claim. In Part II, this article reviews seven public policy considerations that support state ownership. Part III analyzes the legal arguments, considering first whether federal or state law applies. The article then considers the provisions of various state laws in sub-part B, and those of federal law in sub-parts C and D. II. BACKGROUND & QUESTIONS In general, each individual state owns the land beneath its rivers and lakes that are navigable at the time of statehood.(2) Describing this ownership, the U.S. Supreme Court has stated: Under English common law the English Crown held sovereign title to all lands underlying navigable waters .... When the 13 Colonies became independent ... they claimed title to the lands under navigable waters ... as the sovereign successors to the ... Crown. Because all subsequently admitted States enter the Union on an equal footing with the original. 13 States they too hold title to the land under navigable waters within their boundaries .... (3) Thus the states owned, and still own, the original riverbeds of navigable rivers.(4) But when a federal dam is built, artificially flooding adjoining dry land and creating an enlarged navigable waterway, who holds title to the newly submerged land? While the question could be argued legally several ways, people commonly assume that title remains in the dam builder who condemned it. This article argues otherwise: that ownership by the respective states is more persuasive, both legally and on the basis of public policy. In a case of first impression, the outcome will likely be shaped as much by public policy considerations as by application of the law.(5) Not all federal reservoirs were created by the same agency or even under similar statutes.(6) The principal statute, the Federal Power Act,(7) allows a licensee to obtain a permit from the Federal Power Commission, now the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), to construct a dam on navigable waterways for generating electrical power. In many cases, however, reservoirs were authorized by special legislation.(8) To facilitate the task of building dams, all the applicable federal statutes empower each licensee to condemn or otherwise pay for the land to be flooded.(9) After reservoir completion, the licensees sell services such as electricity and irrigation water that, over time, pay for the cost of acquiring land and constructing the dam. Many dam licensees, since condemning the newly submerged lands, may have paid property taxes on the those lands, not including the original riverbeds which the licensees generally admit to be property of the respective states.(10) In all likelihood, however, few surveys have been conducted to locate or mark the banks of natural riverbeds beneath reservoirs. To what extent it would be technically possible now to identify historic riverbeds presents difficult factual considerations. Similarly, some states may have assessed taxes on dams and submerged lands on the basis of depreciated cost, while others may have used some other valuation. …

Supply storage in federal reservoirs

The emphasis in federal reservoir management has shifted from construction of new projects to optimization of existing facilities.Numerous cities, municipal water districts, and other nonfederal entities have contracted for municipal and industrial water supply storage capacity in federal multipurpose reservoirs, under the provisions of the 1958 Water Supply Act and amendments thereto. In the past, allocation of storage capacity to municipal and industrial water supply and associated sponsorship arrangements have been an integral part of the process of planning and constructing new federal reservoir projects. More recently, cities and other municipal and industrial water suppliers are increasingly viewing storage reallocations and related operational modifications of completed federal reservoir projects as potential sources of supply for meeting growing water needs. Demands on existing facilities will continue to intensify in the future. The author outlines, from an institutional perspective, the role of federal multipurpose reservoirs in municipal and industrial water supply, with a particular focus on storage reallocations at existing projects.

Drought and Water‐Supply Management: Roles and Responsibilities

Managing drought during the 1980s taught that it is essential to define the roles of local, state, and federal governments. Roles are still being worked out, especially in the cross‐cutting areas of planning and coordination. Local government, on the firing line, faces questions about levels of risk and drought response plans. State government has five roles: planning, coordination, data and technical assistance, emergency aid, and regulatory actions (mainly restricting water use). The federal government has roles in operation of federal reservoirs, in coordination, and in data management. Gaining appreciation for the complexity of drought and for the need for coordinated action requires further improvement. The solution to drought problems in better water resources management through a continuing process, not a prescription to be abandoned when a drought is over. The nation is still looking for the correct allocation of roles in this process. Lessons learned from recent droughts can improve the process.

New water transfer restrictions: The West returns to riparianism

Fundamental shifts in water allocation and management are occurring throughout the West. Changing public values have reversed our historic preference for supply augmentation through the construction of new storage systems and replaced it with one for the reallocation of existing supplies. The emerging reallocation era will be characterized by the better management of existing supplies to serve both traditional and new user communities. Reallocation can be accomplished in three ways: (1) the rededication of unallocated or unused blocks of stored water on federal and state reservoirs, (2) the voluntary transfer of existing water rights, and (3) the redefinition of existing rights by judicial decisions and legislation which trim consumptive entitlements. We currently lack a coherent water allocation principle to replace the equation of conservation with storage and maximum consumption, but we are simultaneously trying to reduce the transaction costs of transfers and to impose a number of ad hoc state and federal restraints on water transfers to accommodate the previously neglected claims of nontraditional water users and other interested parties. These new laws can greatly increase the costs of transfers and make them politically unattractive. The expanded recognition of traditional and new third party rights could produce a new riparianism in the West. This would overturn the law of prior appropriation which has thrived because it was premised on the severance of the right to use water from its source and allowed water to be allocated to new demands. In contrast, the common law of riparian rights confines water rights to landowners in the watershed of a stream. From the beginning, western courts rejected the watershed limitation, but many recent transfer restraints modify the law of prior appropriation and reintroduce the principle of watershed protection rule in the form of a premise that river systems should be managed on an ecosystem basis. Emerging new watershed rules could make all transfers presumptively suspect.

Competition at federal water resource projects: A new dimension: With cities expanding into the country, federal reservoirs are under increasing user pressures. The authors suggest a basis for reconciliation.

Clinton Vince, B.A. Trinity College, J.D. Georgetown University, is a partner in the Washington, D.C. firm ofVe~ner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand. Sherry Quirk, A.B. Mount Holyoke College, J.D Washington College of Law, and Nancy Wodka, B.A. Clark University, J.D. George Washington University, are associates of the firm. The authors have represented consumer-owned electric utilities in manyof the disputes and legislative initiatives discussed in this article INTRODUCTION Alivelydebatehas erupted on CapitolHill oversevera1legislativeinitiatives that could directly affect hydroelectric power consumers at the nation'sfederalwater resourceprojects and federally licensed hydroelectric projects. The issuespresentedby theseinitiatives have significant social, economic and political ramifications that extend wellbeyond theelectric utility industry. They haveall of the contentiousfeatures ofany conflict where competinginterests arevying for access to a limitedresource. In a fewinstances, theyinvolveindependent govenunent agencies that are pitted directly againstone another. Theyaffect investorowned electric utilitysystems, as

Competition for Recreation Water in California

Water-oriented recreation has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. This has brought about great demand for minimum recreation pools and adequate recreation facilities at reservoir projects. Water pools for recreation require acquisition of water to fill them initially and to compensate for added evaporation losses later. This difficult problem was satisfactorily solved in four Federal reservoirs in a water-deficient area in California. Procedure used entailed a high degree of cooperation by water users, public at large, and construction agency. Required water for recreation was estimated at less than one half of one percent of natural river flows. Total cost, including storage, water, recreation facilities, and maintenance and operation is estimated at $0.30 per recreation-day. Under Public Law 99-72 about one half of this cost would be borne by the Federal Government and the other half by a local agency. Local costs can be financed through user fees.