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will make any necessary amendments to the RIPRAP to fulfill such intent. 2. The RIP is intended to offset both the direct and depletion impacts of historic projects occurring prior to January 22, 1988 (the date when the Cooperative Agreement for the RIP was executed) if such offsets are needed to recover the fishes. Under certain circumstances, historic projects may be subject to consultation under Section 7 of the ESA. An increase in depletions from a historic project occurring after January 22, 1988, will be subject to the depletion charge. Except for the circumstances described in item 11 below, depletion charges or other measures will not be required from historic projects which undergo Section 7 consultation in the future. 3. The Bureau of Reclamation (BR) will operate projects authorized and funded pursuant to Federal reclamation law consistent with its responsibilities under Section 7 of the ESA and with any existing contracts. No depletion charge will be required on depletions from BR projects as long as BR continues its contributions to the RIP's annual budget. 4. The FWS will assess the impacts of projects that require Section 7 consultation and determine if progress toward recovery has been sufficient for the RIP to serve as a reasonable and prudent alternative. The FWS will use accomplishments under the RIP as its measure of sufficient progress. The FWS will also consider whether the probable success of the RIP is compromised as a result of a specific depletion or the cumulative effect of depletions. Support activities (funding, research, I&E, etc.) in the RIP contribute to sufficient progress to the extent that they help achieve a measurable population response, a measurable improvement in habitat for the fishes, legal protection of flows needed for recovery, or a reduction in the threat of immediate extinction. Generally, sufficient progress will be evaluated separately for the Colorado and Green River subbasins (but not individual tributaries within each subbasin). However, the FWS will give due consideration to progress throughout the upper basin in evaluating sufficient progress. 5. If sufficient progress is being achieved, biological opinions will identify the activities and accomplishments of the RIP that support it serving as a reasonable and prudent alternative. 6. If sufficient progress is not being achieved, biological opinions for new and historic projects will be written to identify which action(s) in the RIPRAP must be completed to avoid jeopardy. Specific recovery actions will be implemented according to the schedule identified in the RIPRAP. The FWS will confer with the Management Committee on the identification of these actions within established timeframes for the Section 7 consultation. For historic projects, these actions will serve as the reasonable and prudent 3