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<br />0112551 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Agreement are several documents: <br /> <br />. a milestones document describing obligations of the parties during the three year <br />Cooperative Agreement period; <br /> <br />. a water conservation/water supply document, describing studies needed to <br />develop water for program purposes; <br /> <br />. the proposed program, describing water supply and reregulation projects to <br />provide water to the habitat, and land, money and other contributions by the states <br />and Interior; and <br /> <br />. a governance document describing how the program will be run, <br /> <br />THE COOPERA TlVE AGREEMENT <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Cooperative Agreement describes what will happen during the three-year period <br />pending ESA and NEPA analysis by the FWS. If the ESA and NEPA reviews are not <br />completed in three years and six months, the entire Cooperative Agreement, and all <br />interim regulatory certainty for permitees, will terminate unless the Cooperative <br />Agreement is extended by the signatories. <br /> <br />Reeulatory Certainty. During the three-year Cooperative Agreement period, Colorado <br />water users will have regulatory certainty under the ESA, as long as all specified <br />activities are completed. <br /> <br />. Water users seeking permits or permit renewals for eXIstIng water-related <br />activities will continue to be able to operate their projects under the same interim <br />conditions that several Front Range municipal water facilities have relied upon <br />during the negotiation of the Program Agreement. These permittees will pay to <br />the FWS an annual charge which will be used to buy habitat, and water that will <br />help bring Platte River flows toward the target flows. <br /> <br />. Water users seeking permits for new water related activities will also be assured <br />of interim compliance with the ESA, by replacing the consumptive use of their <br />water projects on an annual basis during the Cooperative Agreement period. <br /> <br />. Water users with projects that will consume 25 acre feet per year or less must <br />comply with the FWS's existing biological opinion on minor depletions, which <br />involves payment of a one-time charge of $37 per acre-foot of consumptive use. <br /> <br />. Establislrine tlte Program. The Cooperative Agreement provides that at the end of the <br />ESA and NEPA review period, the states and Interior will enter into a new agreement that <br /> <br />6 <br />