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7. The Program is responsible for providing habitat elements which the Service determines <br />are essential to recovery of Platte River endanbered species, not individual water project , <br />sponsors/owners. Whether or not a Section 7 review is required, the Program will work <br />cooperatively with the owners/operators of historic projects, sponsors of proposed projects, and <br />other parties, on a voluntary basis to identify, evaluate, and implement actions needed to recover <br />the endangered species' habitats. 8. The responsibility for the efficiency and effectiveness of the Program and for its viability <br />as a reasonable and prudent alternative rests upon Program participants, not with the individual <br />project proponents. The Program participants fully share that responsibility. <br />9. If the Program cannot provide reasonable and prudent alternatives per item 6 above, as <br />a last resort, the Service will develop "a'reasonable and prudent alternative, if available, with the <br />lead federal agency and the project proponent. Program participants recognize that such <br />instances would be inconsistent with the intended operation of the Program. In this eventuality, <br />the reasonable and prudent alternative will be consistent with the ESA. <br />2.5.2 Bureau of Reclamation Review of Existing Project Operations <br />Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies to carry out conservation <br />programs for listed species. Section 7(a)(1) also requires federal agencies to ensure that their <br />actions are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species or to adversely <br />modify or destroy critical habitat. In order to determine if the water resource proj ects <br />constructed and operated by Reclamation in the North and South Platte River Basin may have <br />adversely affected the threatened and endangered species habitat in central Nebraska, <br />Reclamation initiated informal Section 7 consultation with the Service in Fiscal Year 1991 to <br />investigate, describe, and evaluate the operation of existing Reclamation facilities in the Platte <br />River Basin to ensure compliance with the FSA. The evaluation includes the North and South <br />Platte Rivers from. Reclamation's existing facilities through the Big Bend area of the Platte <br />River. Reclamation operates three projects on the North Platte River (Kendrick Project, North <br />26