[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 43, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 43CFR418.24]

[Page 576-577]
 
                    TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR
 
      CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 418--OPERATING CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES FOR THE NEWLANDS RECLAMATION PROJECT, NEVADA--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 418.24  Precautionary drawdown and spills from Lahontan Reservoir.

    (a) Even though flood control is not a specifically authorized 
purpose of the Project, at the request of the District

[[Page 577]]

and in consultation with other interested parties and the approval of 
the Bureau, precautionary drawdown of Lahontan Reservoir may be made to 
limit potential flood damage along the Carson River. The Bureau will 
develop criteria for precautionary drawdown in consultation with the 
District and other interested parties.
    (1) The drawdown must be scheduled sufficiently in advance and at 
such a rate of flow in order to divert as much water as possible into 
the Project irrigation system for delivery to eligible land or storage 
in reregulating reservoirs for later use on eligible land.
    (2) During periods of precautionary drawdown, or when water is 
spilled from Lahontan Reservoir, Project diversions will be determined 
by comparison with other years' data and normalized by comparison of 
differences in climatological data. The Bureau will estimate the 
normalization in consultation with the District and other interested 
parties.
    (3) Spills from Lahontan Reservoir and precautionary drawdown of the 
reservoir to create space for storing flood waters from the Carson River 
Basin that are in excess of the normalized diversions will not be used 
in calculating Project diversions.
    (4) Water captured in Project facilities as a result of a 
precautionary drawdown or spill will not be counted as storage in 
Lahontan Reservoir for the purpose of calculating Truckee River 
Diversions. Such water will not be counted as diversions to the Project 
unless such water is beneficially applied as described in (a)(5) of this 
section.
    (5) Water from precautionary drawdowns or spills that is captured in 
Project facilities must be used to the maximum extent possible, and 
counted as deliveries to eligible lands in the year of the drawdown. If 
all the drawdown water captured in Project facilities cannot be used in 
the year of capture for delivery to eligible lands, then that water must 
be delivered to eligible lands in subsequent years to the maximum extent 
possible and counted against the water users' annual allocation.
    (b) If a precautionary drawdown in one month results in a failure to 
meet the Lahontan Reservoir storage objective for that month, the 
storage objective in subsequent months will be reduced by one-half of 
the difference between that month's storage objective and actual end-of-
month storage. The Bureau is not liable for any damage or water shortage 
resulting from a precautionary drawdown.