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<br />" <br /> <br />,...::.:.;::..::>~ <br />" ~,~.~ <br />:~~?:\'~:{J <br /> <br />,. . .~ '. <br />".'.',..,'.' <br />.,. .:.~., <br />,... ., <br />" ..,,~ .' <br /> <br />, .: .:: ~ .;.... <br /> <br />M1S:OZ: <br /> <br />Public Scoping Comments, Gunnison River Contract, conI. <br /> <br />6. FWS; pl,,!,2. Coincident to the contract negotiations, the Service has embarked on a five-year plan <br />of study on the Gunnison River to obtain data necessary for completing Section 7 consultation on the" <br />operation of the Aspinall Unil. Field studies, authorized and funded through the Recovery <br />Implementation Program, began in April of 1992 and will continue through 1996. The Service <br />anticipates completion of formal consultation and 'the rendering of a biological opinion in 1997. <br />Previous biological opinions for the Dolores and Dallas Creek projects include provisions for making <br />up depletions from these projects by releasing water from the Aspinall Unit. <br /> <br />14a. FWS; pI, '2. Coincident to the contract negotiations, the Service has embarked on a five-year plan <br />of study on the Gunnison River to obtain data necessary for completing Section 7 consultation on the <br />operation of the Aspinall Unit. Field studies, authorized and funded through the Recovery <br />Implementation Program, began in April of 1992 and will continue through 1996. The Service <br />anticipates completion of formal consullation and the rendering of a biological opinion in 1997. <br />Previous biological opinions for the Dolores and Dallas Creek projects include provisions for making <br />up depletions from these projects by releasing water from the Aspinall Unit. <br /> <br />6. FWS; pl,,!,3. Clearly, the development of 8 water service contract to deliver water from the <br />Aspinall Unit representing a long-term change in operations and the need for compliance with Section 7 <br />of the Endangered Species Act and NEP A are' inseparable. The legal and institutional interrelationships <br />would suggest that the development of one without the other to be impractical~ if not impossible. {' <br /> <br />21. <br /> <br />FWS; pI, '4. To ensure that potential changes in operations of the Aspinall Unit associated with <br />ongoing contract negotiations are compatible with long~term protection of downstream endangered <br />fishes in the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers, the Service believes that we sould be party to any and all <br />negotiations leading to the development of 8 water service delivery contract. Moreover, we should be <br />signatory to any agreement, MOU or contract that may result from this overall process. <br /> <br />49 <br />