Temporary Urgency Change By The U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation To Add The State Water Projects

Temporary Urgency Change By The U.S. Bureau Of Reclamation To Add The State Water Projects

Reclamation proposes to add the State Water Project's (SWP) Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant as an additional point of diversion and rediversion under Reclamation's above-listed water right permits. Approval of the petition would allow Central Valley Project (CVP) water appropriated under the above-listed water right permits to be directly diverted and/or rediverted from storage at the SWP Banks Pumping Plant and delivered through the SWP facilities to O'Neill Forebay and then to storage in San Luis Reservoir. Reclamation is requesting the change to facilitate the diversion and storage of CVP water in the federal portion of San Luis Reservoir so that the river can be filled to capacity when water becomes available sometime between now and April 15,2000. The CVP's inability to fill the federal portion of San Luis Reservoir without using the Banks Pumping Plant is a result of environmental protection actions taken in 1999. The estimated shortfall would have resulted in lower allocation of CVP water for CVP purposes or in decreased storage of CVP water in San Luis Reservoir at the end of the water year 2000. Absent the approval of the request, the SWP would use the excess capacity at Banks to move water into the federal share of San Luis Reservoir for use by the SWP. The amount of water requested under this change is not to exceed 244 thousand acre-feet (TAF) of CVP water appropriated under the above-listed water right permits assuming the 50 percent exceedance hydrology and the availability of excess flows. Under the 90-percent exceedance hydrology, project operations are limited by available water supply rather than Tracy pumping capacity. Hence, under dry conditions, Reclamation's diversions under this petition would be reduced.

San Joaquin