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1 1 1 1 J 1 1 Executive ,Summary INTRODUCTION Background In 1988, the states of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, along with the Department of the Interior and the Western Area Power Administration, signed an agreement to implement the Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin ("Recovery Program"). The Recovery Program includes various measures such as water rights acquisitions and habitat management to protect and assist in the recovery of four native fish species. Because it is believed to contain some of the largest remaining habitat for several of these species, the Yampa River basin has been of particular interest to the Recovery Program. In 1989, the Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources suggested to the Recovery Program that the conditional water rights for the Juniper Project might be used for flow protection on the Yampa River. The Juniper Project rights are presently held by the Colorado River Water Conservation District ("River District"). The proposed Juniper Project includes a reservoir, irrigation diversion canal, and hydropower plant in Juniper Canyon, a short distance upstream from Maybell. The River District's Juniper rights are generally viewed as the controlling water rights on the Yampa River. As a result of discussions with the DNR and the Recovery Program, the River District initiated the Yampa River Basin Alternatives Feasibility Study in 1990. This study examined current and projected future water needs. in the basin, evaluated a number of sites for development of new reservoir storage, and assessed the implications of future basin development on instream flow conditions. The recommendations of that study, which was completed in 1993, included more detailed evaluation of the possible enlargement of Elkhead Reservoir and the development of strategies, possibly utilizing the Juniper Project rights, for protecting streamflows in river reaches known to be occupied by the endangered fishes. Objectives of Present Study The objectives of the present study are to follow-up on the recommendations of the previous study and to lay the groundwork for inter-agency decision-making regarding the water management future of the Yampa River basin. The study included specific tasks to evaluate reservoir operations for water supply and ' for protecting and improving mainstem instream flows, to investigate in more detail the site conditions at the existing Elkhead Reservoir, to develop preliminary designs for features of the dam enlargement, and to prepare a preliminary development schedule and cost estimate for the ' project. The study also included the preparation of preliminary Biological and Environmental Assessment documents. The remainder of this summary briefly describes the methods and findings of these principal study tasks. 1 11 S-1