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<br />The protection of endangered fish species of the Upper Colorado River Basin <br />under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act threatened to embroil all <br />interested parties in a confrontation between resource protection and resource <br />development. The parties recognized that such a confrontation was unlikely to <br />result in progress toward recovery of the listed species and could lend a <br />measure of uncertainty to future water resource development in the upper <br />basin. As a result, the parties endeavored to accommodate their competing <br />demands through discussion and negotiation. <br />The forum for these discussions was the Upper Colorado River Basin <br />Coordinating Committee (Coordinating Committee). The Coordinating Committee <br />was formally established in late summer 1984 by a Memorandum of Understanding <br />among the Service, Reclamation, and the States of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. <br />The memorandum also established a technical steering committee and <br />subcommittees which were responsible for compiling and assessing data and for <br />making final recommendations to the Coordinating Committee. Representatives <br />of water users and water development proponents, as well as of conservation <br />organizations, were members of these committees. <br />' <br />The Coordinating Committee <br />s formal charge was a narrow one. Recognizing that <br />earlier consultations under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act had found <br />that new water projects would likely jeopardize the continued existence of the <br />listed fish species, this committee was to identify reasonable and prudent <br />alternatives that would preserve the species while permitting new water <br />development to proceed in the upper basin. However, during their discussions, <br />the parties concluded that both the biological requirements of the four <br />species and the hydrology and management of the Upper Colorado River Basin are <br />exceedingly complex. They also concluded that a systematic approach was <br />needed in order to achieve the committee's fundamental objective of <br />accommodating rare fish species conservation with continued water resource <br />development in the upper basin. This would best be achieved through a <br />concerted and cooperative effort to recover all four species. As a <br />consequence, the parties determined that a comprehensive program is needed to <br />implement a broad range of measures designed not only to preserve the listed <br />species but to ensure their full recovery and eventual delisting under the <br />Endangered Species Act. <br />1.3 SUMMARY <br />t the consensus <br />The re <br />m <br />d <br />ti <br />th <br />t <br />tli <br />d <br />t <br />d i <br />thi <br />co <br />men <br />represen <br />a <br />ons <br />are ou <br />ocumen <br />a <br />ne <br />n <br />s <br />of the participants and encompass a range of conservation elements that have <br />been determined to be necessary to protect and recover the Upper Colorado <br />River Basin's rare fish species. It must be noted, however, that the program <br />elements set out below are part of a comprehensive and integrated package, and <br />the successful recovery of the species will depend upon full implementation of <br />each element. <br />There are five principal elements or tasks in this recovery program: <br />(a) habitat management; (b) habitat development and maintenance; (c) native <br />fish stocking; (d) nonnative species and sportfishing; and (e) research, data <br />management, and monitoring. It is realized that the situation in the upper <br />basin is exceedingly complex and that there is insufficient knowledge to <br />determine precise needs. However, there is consensus among all parties that <br />full implementation is necessary. Each element is briefly described here ¦ <br /> <br />1-6