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DAMS AND DIVERSIONS requires federal agencies to avoid actions that will harm individuals of an endangered species, and to "insure" that their projects are not likely to jeopardize the existence of a species or damage their critical habitat. But restrictive interpretations as well as administrative obstacles have often rendered the Act ineffective, leaving park waters vulnerable to severe damage to endangered species' habitats. Long after passage of the Act, for example, the Bureau of Reclamation continued to release flows from the Flaming Gorge dam on the Green River that were damaging to important habitat of the endangered Colorado squawfish in Dinosaur National Monument. At St. Croix and Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, flows from an old hydropower dam continued to be severely reduced during winter, exposing endangered mussels to extreme winter temperatures. And at Everglades National Park, despite the Act, inadequate and poorly-timed water deliveries from the south Florida canal systems wreaked devastation on wildlife, including the park's many endangered and threat- ened species. Another example is the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act,rbwhich prohibits federally-permitted or feder- ally-assisted water projects that would degrade the values for which a river segment was designated. If a river is designated, for example, to protect its free- flowing character and fish and wildlife populations, water resource projects that would adversely affect those values, such as upstream dams and diver- sions, would be prohib- ited. Furthermore, desig- nation of a river pursuant to the Act establishes legal entitlement to the amount of unappropriated water in that segment necessary to protect the values for which it was designated. Although the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed in 1968, the vast majority of park rivers potentially eligible for des- ignation under the Act remain undesignated. Furthermore, the Park Service has been slow to initiate the planning steps that could lay the founda- tion for protection of addi- tional park rivers. Since the Park Service was vested with planning authority for park rivers in 1978, "suit- ability studies" have been completed for only six park rivers, and these studies were mandated by Congress. Yet, only rivers specifically listed by Congress for study receive interim protection equal to that pro- vided to designated rivers. Thus, a multitude of park rivers potentially eligible for protection under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act remain vulnerable to upstream and downstream projects that could impair or destroy their values. Efforts to reform the legal, administrative and institutional structures that govern dam construction and operation face powerful resistance. Maintaining the status quo is powerfully supported by vested interests that benefit from existing arrangements. For example, the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), which markets hydropower generated by federal dams on the upper Colorado River system, was recently required to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to assess how its marketing criteria affect the downstream environment, including resources in Dinosaur National Monument, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument and Grand Canyon National Park. Predictably, however, a phalanx of representatives from the municipal and publicly owned utilities that purchase hydropower at WAPA's low prices vigorously opposed proposals for 27 Electric power production at the Flaming Gorge Dam upstream of Dinosaur National Monument causes dra- matic fluctuations in river flows.