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<br />JJ1536 <br /> <br />-- <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />The Jicarilla Apache Nation <br /> <br />In addition, this project may have a detrimental effect on the endangered fish in the San Juan <br />River. <br /> <br />Though the proposed Long Hollow reservoir will be constructed on a tributary of the San Juan <br />River that is down-stream from the Navajo Reservoir and the Navajo River, the completed <br />reservoir could drastically affect the flow of the San Juan River. <br /> <br />In Endangered Species Act Section 7 consultations on subcontracts for the Nation to supply <br />water from its Navajo Reservoir Supply entitlement, the Fish and Wildlife Service has taken into <br />account the Bureau of Reclamation's intent to meet the San Juan River Recovery <br />Implementation Program's Flow Recommendations in the critical habitat reach of the San Juan <br />River. The Nation could be adversely affected to the extent that the proposed Long Hollow <br />Reservoir would lower the river's flow below the flows specified in the Flow Recommendations, <br />making it necessary for Reclamation to release more water that it otherwise would from Navajo <br />Reservoir to compensate for the decrease in the flow in the critical habitat reach. Increased <br />releases from the Navajo Reservoir could impair future water deliveries to the Nation. Such <br />action would impair the Nation's ability to exercise its water rights. <br /> <br />The proposed project, which is likely to affect the flow of the San Juan River, could have an <br />adverse affect on the endangered Colorado River fishes on the San Juan River in the critical <br />habitat reach. The Corps has recognized, through its adoption of the EPA's Section 404(b) (1) <br />Guidelines, that it must take into account the Endangered Species Act before issuing a permit. <br />33 C.F.R. ~ 320.4(a) (1); 40 C.F.R. ~ 230.lO(b) (3). The proposed project could decrease the <br />river flow below the Flow Recommendations, which may further imperil endangered species, <br />and which would be contrary to the public interest and to the general welfare of the public. <br /> <br />The Nation also has interest in the Flow Recommendations being met which arises from its <br />involvement in the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program and in the development of <br />the Flow Recommendations by the Program. The Nation is a signatory to the 1992 Cooperative <br />Agreement which established the Program and has participated in the Program for the past 10 <br />years. By hindering the achievement of the Flow Recommendations, the proposed project would <br />undermine the past and ongoing efforts by the Nation, federal agencies including the Corps, and <br />various other Program participants toward the development and implementation of the Flow <br />Recommendations for the benefit of the affected endangered species and water users in the San <br />Juan River Basin. <br /> <br />The proposed project may also adversely affect the endangered Colorado River fish in the San <br />Juan River's critical habitat reach. The Nation urges the Corps to consider these detrimental <br />impacts which under the Corps' own regulations, may necessitate a refusal of the permit. <br /> <br />2 <br />