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Operations and Maintenance Appendix D contains a summary of operation and maintenance responsibilities. These activities would be funded through the Recovery Program or through the Service. Possible sources of operational and maintenance funding include establishing a trust fund to be administered by the Recovery Program or the State of Colorado (not approved by State Legislature at this time), obtaining Federal legislation to provide funding, or from the Service's general operations funds. None of the capital funding provided to the Recovery Program by Reclamation would be used for long-term operation, maintenance, or replacement expenses. Construction would not begin on the project until operation, maintenance, and replacement funding mechanisms are agreed upon. There would be no operation, maintenance, or replacement costs to GVIC, although GVIC may elect to do the work with their costs being reimbursed. Because the passage would generally operate as a natural channel, work should be minimal. Stop-logs would be included in the design to close the notch in extremely dry periods when the operations could reduce the diversion capability of the GVIC Diversion. The construction and operation of the fish passage and any fish screens needed in the future are subject to consultation under the Endangered Species Act. The actions described in this report are discretionary, directed and approved through the Recovery Program, in which the Service and Reclamation are participants. During the endangered species consultation, the Service determines if any endangered fishes would incidentally be taken in the GVIC Canal where they might become trapped and die. If so, the Service can authorize a certain amount of incidental take and develop reasonable and prudent measures to minimize take. Incidental take statements exempt entities from Endangered Species Act Section 9 prohibitions if they comply with the reasonable and prudent measures. The final Biological Opinion on the project (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1997) concluded that there probably would be incidental take of endangered fish in the canal as a result of the fish passage. The Service determined that the level of anticipated take would not likely result in jeopardy to the species or destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat. The Service presented the following measure to minimize the take of Colorado squawfish and razorback suckers: "Incorporate a monitoring study into the currently proposed fish passage evaluation that determines if endangered fish are entering the GVIC Canal. If the Service determines that the authorized incidental take could be exceeded, then the Recovery Program will design, construct, and maintain a fish screening device to prevent or reduce adult and subadult fish (greater than 300 mm total length) from entering the GVIC Canal." According to the biological opinion, in order for the project to be exempt from the prohibitions of Section 9 of the Act, the following terms and conditions would be necessary: "Develop an appropriate design for a fish preclusion device that is compatible with the operation of GVIC facilities within the time frame outlined in the Recovery Action Plan. A screening devise will be constructed to preclude adult and subadult fish from entering the canal within the time frame outlined in the Recovery Action Plan." The biological opinion is clear that any incidental take resulting from the direct or indirect operation of the fish passage is not the responsibility of GVIC. 11