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involved re-introductions of the fishes into historic waters. In the upper basin, construction of major dams began in the 1960s. In 1966, the Endangered Species Act was enacted that provided some protection for the rare endemic fishes. Several amendments to the act eventually resulted in the Endangered Species Act of 1973 that strengthened the act and provided more protection to the endangered species. In 1969, the National Environmental Protection Act became law that requires federal agencies to consider all reasonable alternatives when the environment is affected by development activities. These two federal laws provide the major mandates for expanding the work on the rare fishes in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The earliest aquatic studies were made independently to answer various environmental questions. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, studies of abundance, distribution, and life history of the upper basin fishes were made. During the mid-1970s, several more intensive studieswere conducted on the life history and ecological requirements of the rare fishes. The first major study of the rare Colorado River fishes and their ecological requirements was begun in June, 1979 when the Service and the Bureau of Reclamation signed a Memorandum of Understanding to obtain essential information that would provide protection to and eventual recovery of the rare fish while allowing the Bureau of Reclamation to operate existing water development projects, and plan and construct proposed projects. This action resulted in the formation of the Colorado River Fishery Project that has conducted the most intensive studies to date on endangered fishes. Because of conflicts with water development and the endangered fishes, the Colorado Water Congress established a Special Project in 1983 to find an administrative solution to the problem and an Upper Colorado River Coordinating Committee was established in 1984 that had representatives from conservation agencies, 2