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THE BALANCING ACT recovery of the endangered fishes for about 20 years. I can tell you from experience that we would not be doing many of the recovery actions we're doing today and not be seeing the glimmers of hope that we're seeing today without the broad support and the substantial funding the program receives. Because of that support, the program has a strong and comprehensive package of actions that, when accomplished and when completed, recovery of these fishes is expected to occur. These actions are based upon the best scientific information we have today. They include such things as water management to provide flows for the fishes and their habitats; habitat enhancement for restoration; and control of non- native fishes that may compete with or prey on the endangered fishes. We also have a propagation stocking component whereby we would stock fish to augment populations or even re-establish populations in the case of the bony tail. I believe we made solid progress in all of these areas during the course of the recovery program but especially within the last five years. I think Another major we've seen the work with the non- greatest improve- ments and greatest strides occurring in the last five years. I believe the water users view the challenge throughout the basin is how to SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS SEPTEMBER 1999 o program as a success. The program serves as the RPA under the Section 7 agreement and non-jeopardy opinions have been issued on about 500 projects depleting about 600,000 acre-feet of water since 1988. So thete is a human factor in the program. What about the fish and their recovery, will it ever be achieved? I think the answer to that question is, it's too soon to tell. I mentioned that we've made strong progress in implementing a wide variety of recovery actions and there are signs that the fish are respond- ing in a positive way to these recovery actions. One thing about these fish is that they are long-lived fish so their responses to our recovery actions are often slow in showing up. Some examples of those positive signs. Colorado pikeminnow populations in both the Green and Colorado rivers are increasing. Since the program was established, there's been about a three-fold increase in the catch rates of adult pikeminnow in the Green River and about an eight-fold increase in catch rates native fishes in our recovery efforts. - Bill Rinne of adult pikeminnow in the Colorado River. Hump- back chub populations in the Colorado River in Black Rocks and Westwater Canyon are stable or even increasing. Some of our most recent population estimates would indicate we have strong populations there and there's recruitment to the populations occurring. Razorback sucker. For the first time since perhaps the 1960s, we're seeing recruitment in razorback sucker populations in the Green River. We're also recapturing fish we have stocked on the spawning bar, so there's indications that these stocked fish are recruiting back to the adult reproductive stock. The bony tail. Wild bonytails are virtually extirpated in the system so we'll have to restock those fish back into the wild to re-establish populations. We have recaptured these stocked fish and all indications are that they are growing well and they're surviving well. So, there are positive signs that the program is working for the fish. We have a ways to go, but the road ahead of us does not appear quite as bumpy as it did at one time. I think there's light at the end of that recovery tunnel for the Upper Basin fishes. RINNE: I have a couple of points. I'll just focus on major problems yet to be addressed and the fishery. There are about four things I've listed here. I'll just touch on them and then maybe some of the others will want to expand on them. One of the major challenges in front of us is how we want to approach recovery in the future in terms of integrating a lot of these very good but, very separate programs in the basin into an ecosystem approach. Another major challenge throughout the basin is how to work with the non-native fishes in our recovery efforts. My view is that the well inten- tioned hopes of getting rid of non-native fishes are dreams. The fishery in the Colorado today is a Mississippi drainage fishery that's been moved in. It's here with us and we need to work with it. So I think the major challenge is: How do you work with that? A second challenge is trying to reach an agreement on the scope of recovery that's really acceptable. This gets back to this notion of balancing the environ- ment. In other words, do you do it in zones and focus on something like Bob said where you have areas where you have natural recruitment occurring, or do you try to re-establish this throughout the basin, the lower river and the Delta? Finally - to see if I can get some response from the panel- would be this idea: Where we identify or expect that water is to be dedicated for fishery needs, whether it be in the Delta or on the mainstream, how are we going to get that water? How will it be dedicated? Who is going to provide it? These are