GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS

Pursuant to the Biological Assessment

Acronyms:

AGC	Automatic Generation Control	LMNRA	Lake Mead National Recreation Area
AGFD	Arizona Game and Fish Department	maf	million acre feet
AOP	Annual Operating Plan	Mgal/day	million gallons per day
ASU	Arizona State University	µm	micrometer
BA	Biological Assessment	MSCP	Multi-Species Conservation Program
BIA	Bureau of Indian Affairs	msl	mean sea level
BLM	Bureau of Land Management	MWD	The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
BOR	Bureau of Reclamation	MW	megawatt
CAP	Central Arizona Project	NEPA	National Environmental Policy Act
CAWCD	Central Arizona Water Conservation District	NDOW	Nevada Division of Wildlife
CFG	California Department of Fish and Game	NF	National Forest
CFR	Code of Federal Regulations	NFWG	Native Fish Work Group
cfs	cubic feet per second	NIB	Northerly International Boundary
Cienega	Cienega de Santa Clara	NMFS	National Marine Fisheries Service
COE	Corps of Engineers	NPS	National Park Service
Corps	Corps of Engineers	OM&R	operation, maintenance, and replacement
CRIT	Colorado River Indian Tribes	PVID	Palo Verde Irrigation District
CROD	contract rates of delivery	ppm	parts per million
CVWD	Coachella Valley Water District	Reclamation	Bureau of Reclamation
dB	decibel	RPAs	Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives
EIS	Environmental Impact Statement	RPMs	Reasonable and Prudent Measures
ESA	Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended	Secretary	Secretary of the Interior
FEMA	Federal Emergency Management Agency	SIB	Southerly International Boundary
FHWA	Federal Highway Administration	USBR	Bureau of Reclamation
FR	Federal Register	USDA	United States Department of Agriculture
FWS	Fish and Wildlife Service	WAPA	Western Area Power Administration
Gulf	Gulf of California	WBNFH	Willow Beach National Fish Hatchery
HAVFISH	Lake Havasu Fishery Improvement Project	Western	Western Area Power Administration
IBWC	International Boundary and Water Commission	WMIDD	Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District
IID	Imperial Irrigation District	WSCC	Western Systems Coordination Council
JOA	Joint Operating Agreement	YAO	Yuma Area Office
kW	kilowatt	YDP	Yuma Desalting Plant

Terms:

Irrigation use: the use of mainstream water for the commercial production of agricultural crops or livestock, including use of water for other purposes incidental thereto, on tracts of arable land operated in units of more than 5 acres.

Annual Operating Plan: the projected annual plan of operation prepared in accordance with the Criteria for Coordinated Long-Range Operation of Colorado River Reservoirs pursuant to section 602 of the Colorado River Basin Project Act of September 30, 1968, and adopted by the Secretary for operating the reservoirs of the Seedskadee, Colorado River Storage, Boulder Canyon, and Parker-Davis Projects during the 12-month period from October 1 through the following September 30.

Apportionment: both 1) the total amount of Colorado River water available for beneficial use within a calendar year in the lower Colorado River basin as established by the Colorado River Compact and 2) the division of the amount of Colorado River water available to the lower Colorado River basin among the lower basin States as established by the Boulder Canyon Project Act and confirmed by the Court decree. Such apportionment will vary depending upon whether the Secretary, in accordance with the Supreme Court Decree and the criteria for the Annual Operating Plan in any 1 year, has declared a normal, shortage, or surplus condition for that year. For a normal water year, the lower basin is entitled to receive 7.5 maf.

Basic apportionment: the Colorado River water apportioned to each lower basin State when sufficient water is available for release, as determined by the Secretary, to satisfy 7.5 maf of annual consumptive use in the lower basin. The basic annual apportionment for a normal year is 2.8 maf of consumptive use for Arizona; 4.4 maf of consumptive use for California; and 0.3 maf of consumptive use for Nevada.

Beneficial use: all uses of Colorado River water which are: 1) for non-Federal entitlement holders, consistent with relevant State law, or as otherwise permitted by the Secretary; 2) for non-Indian Federal entitlement holders, consistent with decreed entitlements, applicable contracts, administrative reservations of water entitlements, or the purposes for which the reservations were created; and 3) for Indian Federal entitlement holders, consistent with relevant Federal and Tribal laws.

Colorado River water: the waters of the Colorado River and the waters of the hydraulically connected aquifers which originated from the Colorado River or would be replaced by water from the Colorado River upon withdrawal.

Consumptive use: 1) diversions from the Colorado River, including diversions by underground pumping, less such return flow thereto as is available for consumptive use in the United States or in satisfaction of the Mexican treaty obligation, and 2) evaporative or other losses from the Colorado River resulting from actions taken subsequent to March 9, 1964 (the date of the Supreme Court Decree in Arizona v. California, et al.).

Contractor: any person or entity in Arizona, California, or Nevada who has a valid contract or agreement with the United States for the delivery of Colorado River water or power.

Decree: of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Arizona v. California et al., entered March 9, 1964 (376 U.S. 340), as supplemented or amended, which establishes certain decreed water rights within the lower Colorado River basin and recognizes the authority of the Secretary to allocate, contract for, and administer water entitlements in the lower basin.

Diversions: Colorado River water withdrawn from the mainstream, including water diverted from reservoirs or drawn from the mainstream by underground pumping.

Domestic use: the use of Colorado River water for household, stock, municipal, mining, milling, industrial, and other like purposes, but excludes the release of water solely for generation of hydroelectric power.

Entitlement: an authorization to beneficially use Colorado River water pursuant to: 1) a decreed right, 2) a contract with the United States through the Secretary, or 3) a Secretarial reservation of water.

Federal entitlement holder: a Federal agency or Indian tribe identified in article II(D) of the Decree or otherwise recognized by the Secretary as having an entitlement for the beneficial use of Colorado River water.

Interdependent: those actions that have no independent utility apart from the action under consideration (50 CFR 402.02).

Interrelated: those actions that are part of a larger action and depend on the larger action for their justification (50 CFR 402.02).

Lee Ferry, Lees Ferry, or Lee’s Ferry: The point defined in the 1922 Compact which divides the upper and lower basins and is located within the mainstream of the Colorado River 1 mile below the mouth of the Paria River.

Long-Range Operating Criteria: the Criteria for Coordinated Long-Range Operation of Colorado River Reservoirs pursuant to section 602 of the Colorado River Basin Project Act of September 30, 1968.

lower basin States: the States of Arizona, California, and Nevada.

Lower Colorado River basin or lower basin: those parts of the States of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah within and from which waters naturally drain into the Colorado River below Lees Ferry and also parts of those States located outside the drainage area which are or shall hereafter be beneficially served by waters diverted from the Colorado River below Lees Ferry.

Mainstream or mainstem: the main channel of the Colorado River, exclusive of tributaries, downstream from Lees Ferry within the United States, including the areas covered by reservoirs, wetlands, lakes, ponds, and backwaters; and the waters of the hydraulically connected aquifers which originated from the Colorado River or would be replaced by water from the Colorado River upon withdrawal.

Master Schedule: the weekly schedule that shows the estimated daily diversions or releases of water at Imperial Dam: 1) to be delivered for use in the United States, including power generation at Siphon Drop Powerplant and Pilot Knob Powerplant, 2) to be used in the United States, as reasonably required, during such week for river regulation below Imperial Dam, 3) to be delivered to Mexico through the All-American Canal pursuant to the Mexican Treaty, and 4) to be delivered to Mexico, if any, under the Mexican Treaty by means other than through the All-American Canal. The master schedule is prepared each Wednesday for the upcoming week (Monday through Sunday).

Mexican Treaty obligation: the United States obligation under the Mexican Water Treaty, Executive A, Seventy-eighth Congress, second session, a treaty between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, signed at Washington, D.C., on February 3, 1944, relating to the utilization of the waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande River from Fort Quitman, Texas, to the Gulf of Mexico; Executive H, Seventy-eighth Congress, second session, a protocol signed at Washington, D.C., on November 14, 1944, supplementary to the Mexican Water Treaty and obligations associated with Minutes of the IBWC adopted pursuant to said treaty.

Northerly International Boundary: that portion of the boundary between Mexico and the United States that is delineated by the border between Mexico and the State of California that extends westerly from the Colorado River.

Perfected right: a water right acquired in accordance with State law, which right has been exercised by the actual diversion of a specific quantity of water for beneficial use that has been applied to a defined area of land or to definite municipal or industrial works, and includes water rights created by the reservation of mainstream water for the use of Federal establishments under Federal law whether or not the water has been put to beneficial use or used continuously.

Permanent service: the perpetual right to use Colorado River water pursuant to an entitlement, subject to the restrictions or conditions of other relevant law.

PIT Tag: a passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag. Electronic glass sliver containing computer chip and coil of wire used to identify individual fishes. Computer chip has ten-digit alpha-numeric code energized by passing a magnet over tag.

Present perfected right or PPR: perfected rights defined by the Decree, existing as of June 25, 1929, the effective date of the Boulder Canyon Project Act. Present perfected rights are listed in the supplemental Court decrees entered January 9, 1979, and April 16, 1984, and in future supplemental decrees by the United States Supreme Court.

Reasonable beneficial use: the diversion, distribution, delivery, and use of Colorado River water for a useful or beneficial purpose in an amount not to exceed that reasonably required for such use or purpose.

Reclamation: the Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of the Interior.

Returns or return flow: Colorado River water diverted from the mainstream which flows back to the mainstream either through surface or subsurface means and is available for consumptive use in the United States or in satisfaction of the Mexican treaty obligation.

Riprap: an uncontained rock blanket placed for bankline protection.

Secretarial reserved entitlement: 1) an entitlement set aside for a Federal agency via notice in the Federal Register, or 2) an entitlement established in an agreement between Reclamation and another Federal agency.

Secretary: the Secretary of the Interior or a duly authorized representative.

Seven-Party Agreement: the agreement dated August 18, 1931, among the Palo Verde Irrigation District, the Imperial Irrigation District, the Coachella Valley Water District, The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the City of Los Angeles, the City of San Diego, and the County of San Diego.

Southerly International Boundary: that portion of the boundary between the United States and Mexico that is delineated by the border between Mexico and the State of Arizona that extends southeasterly from the Colorado River.

Subsurface water: water beneath the land surface.

Surface water: water at or above the land surface.

Surplus apportionment: the Colorado River water apportioned to the lower Colorado River basin in any 1 year when the Secretary determines as part of the AOP surplus sufficient water is available in excess of 7.5 maf of annual consumptive use in the lower basin. Article II(B)(2) of the Decree provides that water available for annual consumptive use in excess of 7.5 maf shall be apportioned as follows: 50 percent for use in California, 46 percent for use in Arizona, and 4 percent for use in Nevada.

Tributaries: all stream systems the waters of which naturally drain into the mainstream of the Colorado River below Lees Ferry.

Unauthorized use: any diversion or consumptive use of Colorado River water without an entitlement or not in conformance with an entitlement.

Unused apportionment: Colorado River water within a lower basin State's basic or surplus apportionment, or both, which is not put to beneficial consumptive use in that year within that State.

Waste: a nonbeneficial use of water such as the diversion of an extravagant quantity, use of an exceedingly inefficient delivery system, or other such practice which results in a loss of water from the system which could have been put to beneficial use.

Water user: any person or entity diverting and using Colorado River water.