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Summary <br />Introduction <br />The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) proposes to operate Navajo Dam and Reservoir to <br />meet Endangered Species Act (ESA)-related flow recommendations for the San Juan River, <br />or a reasonable alternative' to those recommendations, in a manner which enables both <br />current and future water depletions' to proceed in compliance with the ESA. <br />This change in reservoir operation would assist in conserving endangered fish in the <br />San Juan River downstream from Farmington, New Mexico, and enabling water <br />development to proceed in the San Juan River Basin (Basin) in compliance with applicable <br />laws, compacts, court decrees, and American Indian (Indian) trust responsibilities. To <br />accomplish this action, Reclamation would continue to operate Navajo Dam to meet the <br />authorized project purposes while modifying reservoir release patterns to meet flow <br />recommendations designed, in concert with other authorized recovery actions, to maintain <br />or improve habitat for the razorback sucker and Colorado pikeminnow. <br />The Navajo Reservoir Operations Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) describes <br />and analyzes potential environmental effects resulting from the proposed operational <br />changes to Navajo Dam and Reservoir. The FEIS has been prepared according to provisions <br />of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and other laws and mandates. <br />Scope of the Proposed Action <br />The effects of the proposed action would encompass Navajo Dam and Reservoir and the <br />surrounding area in southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico and the San Juan River <br />downstream to Lake Powell near the Utah/Arizona border. Navajo Dam is approximately <br />38 miles northeast of Farmington, New Mexico, and about 55 miles southeast of Durango, <br />Colorado. Other communities in the area include Bloomfield and Shiprock, New Mexico <br />(the latter on the Navajo Nation Reservation), and Bluff and Mexican Hat, Utah. <br />'A reasonable alternative may be determined through discussion with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and <br />the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program. <br />z Future water depletions include those which have obtained appropriate environmental compliance but are <br />not yet implemented.