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<br />a. A drought at Wolford Mountain Reservoir is defined as a condition <br />where: (i) the Weather Service's May 15t estimate of the April to July <br />forecast for runoff in the Muddy Creek Basin upstream of Ritschazd <br />Dam is less than 28,400 acre-feet; and (ii) the June 1S` reservoir level <br />is less than Sb,000 acre-feet. If this condition occurs, the intent is to <br />use available Ruedi Reservoir water or other sources. <br />b. A drought at Ruedi Reservoir is def ned as a hydrologic condition <br />forcing the Bureau of Reclamation to reduce the water available <br />pursuant to its water contracts from the Regulatory Pool. The River <br />District's reduced deliveries from Ruedi Reservoir shall be <br />determined by Reclamation based ugon reduction criteria in Ruedi <br />Reservoir water contracts, and in accordance with the Fryingpan- <br />Arkansas Project Operating Principles. <br />C. Rights and Responsibilities of the Service <br />1. The Service agrees to accept the release to the Colorado Water Conservation <br />Board of the water resources described herein and in the Denver <br />Water/Service Agreement, pursuant to arrangements by which Denver Water <br />and the River District will jointly or separately contract with the Colorado <br />Water Conservation Board for the purpose of providing protection for flow <br />augmentation of the 15-Mile Reach of the Colorado River for the benefit of <br />the Recovery Program and the listed fishes within the safe and reasonable <br />operation of the proposed sources, recognizing all existing prior contract <br />obligations. <br />2. The Service has generally described the arrangements contained in this <br />Agreement and the Denver WaterlService Agreement in the PBO. Hence, <br />water users which intend to rely on the PBO which sign Recovery <br />Agreements will thereby agree not to oppose the use of Wolford Mountain <br />Reservoir and Ruedi Reservoir for releasing and delivering the River <br />District's 5,412.5 acre-feet of water per year on an interim basis. Recovery <br />Agreements, as described in Appendix E to the PBO, also will limit <br />signatories' ability to oppose water rights which may be applied for in the <br />future to replace such releases, but those entities may nevertheless take <br />actions deemed necessary to ensure that such water rights are administered <br />in priority and do not cause injury to previously decreed water rights. <br />D. Implementation <br />An Operations Group will be established, consisting of representatives from <br />the River District, Denver Water, the Service, the U. S. Bureau of <br />Reclamation, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and the State of <br />-3- <br />