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I UPPER COLORADO RIVER RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM COORDINATED RESERVOIR OPERATIONS SUMMARY REPORT FOR 1999 ' I. Introduction The Water Acquisition Committee (WAC) of the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program) proposed the Coordinated Reservoir Operations Study (CROS), in 1994. The purpose of this study is to provide water in the 15 Mile Reach of the Colorado River for the benefit of the endangered fish by adding water back to the spring peak. Recent Recovery Program research resulted in recommendations for spring flows of 12,900 cfs or greater in the 15 Mile Reach of the Colorado River (USFWS 1995). These flows are beneficial sediment movement, the scouring of spawning bars and reshaping of the channel to improve and maintain desirable endangered fish habitat. This report serves as a summary for the third year of joint reservoir operations with the following reservoir operators and participating agencies: • U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) • Division 5 Engineer's Office • Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) • Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) • National Weather Service (NWS) • Colorado River Water Conservation District (CRWCD) + Denver Water r • Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD) • Southeastern Water Conservancy District (SEWCD) • City of Aurora • City of Colorado Springs The objective of CROS is to coordinate bypasses of inflows from various reservoirs resulting in enhancement of habitat in the 15-Mile Reach of the Colorado River without exceeding the National Weather Service flood level of 26,600 cfs at Cameo. These bypasses may have passed through the participating reservoirs during the runoff period. Coordinated reservoir operations moves those bypasses to the peak of the runoff hydrograph to enhance spring peak flows, which are important to spawning and improvement/maintenance of aquatic habitat. Coordination and ' modification of operations are voluntary and occur within current authorizations and guidelines and without affecting project yields to either federal or non-federal reservoirs. The Feasibility Study conducted in 1995 to determine the benefit of these bypasses provided the following: • Analysis of potential operational alternatives • Identification of constraints • Listing of issues to be addressed by the Recovery Implementation Program (RIP) • Process of coordination to enhance flows in the Reach. A unified accounting system for the Colorado River used to account for contributions and