Bureau of Reclamation November 15, 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The ``Criteria for Developing Refuge Water Management Plans'' (Refuge Criteria) are now available for public comment. The Refuge Criteria provide a common methodology, or standard, for efficient use of water by Federal Wildlife Refuges, State Wildlife Management Areas and Resource Conservation Districts that receive water under provisions of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA). They document the process and format by which Refuge Water Management Plans (Plans) should be prepared and submitted to Reclamation as part of the Refuge/ District Water Supply Contracts and Memoranda of Agreement. The Refuge Criteria refer to Refuges, Wildlife Areas, and Resource Conservation Districts as Refuges. Those Refuges that entered into water supply contracts with Reclamation as a result of the CVPIA and subsequent Department of the Interior administrative review processes are required to prepare Plans using the Refuge Criteria.