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Such accomplishment would require a much higher rate of development than experienced in the past decade. Environmental Water Needs - Up to the present, considerable informa- tion on the available water supply for energy use has been developed on the basis that any water not consumed was not being used and was therefore available for diversion to energy uses. However, considering the instream flow needs for general environmental purposes, including recreation, fish and wildlife and water quality; the special instream flow needs for protettion of endangered species habitat; the flow needs of wild and scenic river segments; the water levels necessary for continued recreational boating of frequently traveled river segments; and the water needs of public lands, National Parks, and National Forests to sustain and expand a broad spectrum of public uses, all these public uses and public needs also place significant demands on the water supplies which otherwise might be converted to the use of the energy industry. The Westwide Report, now under Federal agency and State review, points out major gaps in the basic environmental data needed for water supply planning purposes and recommends extensive studies beginning in FY 1976 on such subjects as instream flow needs, critical wetlands and riparian habitat, and endangered species' habitat requirements. The coal and oil shale areas of the Upper Colorado River Basin are listed as top priority areas for study. To illustrate some of the problems involved in any decision to involve Federal funds, manpower, or backing to a particular scheme of energy development,' an examination can be made of the Green River Basin where nearby coal and oil shale developments will require sources of water. Presently, the Yampa River provides what may be the last refuge for some, if not all, of the four endangered indigenous Colorado River fish species: the Colorado squawfish, Ptychocheilus lucius; the humpback chub, Gila cypha; the bony tail chub, Gila elegans; and the humpback sucker, Xyrauchen texanus. The range of these species has been drastically reduced in recent years by dam construc- tion and other alterations of the river ecosystem. The alteration of seasonal flow patterns, water temperature fluctuation, mean temperature changes, and reduction of turbidity from water impound- ment appear to be the principal problems. Only in the Yampa and in the Desolation Canyon of the Middle Green River and in the Canyonlands section of the Colorado River in southeastern Utah may there be the opportunity to maintain reproducing populations of these river species. Unless the specific environmental requirements of these endangered species are positively determined and unequivocally pro- vided for in water supply projects these endangered species may well be eliminated. 46