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<br />,"r;81 <br />vU~" A. <br /> <br />Colorado water users are already taking this realistic, proactive approach. The San Miguel <br />Water Conservancy District has reformulated the traditional $220 million federal reclamation <br />project, and has created a more streamlined $40-80 million project that seeks to meet real, <br />identified needs. The new project plan provides for greater irrigation efficiency and for the <br />construction of a rural domestic water system. <br /> <br />Perhaps the best example of the success of proactive state initiatives is the Upper Basin <br />Recovery Program for the four endangered Colorado River fish species. That program is a <br />cooperative effort between Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, the federal government, water users, and <br />environmentalists to recover the fish consistent with full development of each state's allocated <br />share of the Colorado River. <br /> <br />The program was initiated when the Fish and Wildlife Service took the position that any <br />depletion, even within the state's Compact entitlement, would cause jeopardy to the continued <br />existence of the endangered fish. The result of that position was that the prospect of future <br />development in the Upper Basin was zero. Since the initiation of the Recovery Program, there <br />have been 77 non-jeopardy opinions relating to permit requests for a total depletion of <br />approximately 165,000 acre-feet of water. <br /> <br />With this record, the success of the Recovery program cannot be denied. However, the <br />program is at a stage where actual, defined measures are ready to be implemented to achieve <br />recovery. Those measures, outlined in the Recovery, Action Plan, consist of a wide range of <br />methods, including flow protection, habitat development and maintenance, non-native fish <br />management, stocking of endangered fish species, greater operational efficiency, and continued <br />monitoring. Implementation of all of these measures may take 10 to 15 years, at a total cost of <br />$80 to $120 million. <br /> <br />Appropriations for the Recovery Program have been made on an annual basis in response <br />to requests from the states and the Fish and Wildlife Service. However, obtaining annual <br />appropriations will be more and more difficult as costs of implementation of the program <br />continue, as the Federal budget deficit grows, and as the budget of the Fish and Wildlife Service <br />is stretched to keep up with growing numbers of listed species and to recover publicly-popular <br />species. In short, continued funding for implementation of the Recovery Program is not assured. <br /> <br />If the state and federal government can achieve a secure funding source, then the <br />Recovery Program can build on past successes and move towards recovery of the fish. The <br />existing yield of historic projects can be protected, and state water users can deplete additional <br />levels of water from the Colorado River Basin under the framework of the Recovery Program. <br />In contrast, unless these implementation measures are authorized, funded and completed, the <br />Recovery Program cannot move forward, and the security achieved for Colorado water users <br />through the Program will be lost. <br /> <br />9 <br />