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~. <br />DRAFT-05/10/85 <br />2.4 IDENTIFYING ACCEPTABLE RECOVERY ACTIVITIES <br />The fourth major consideration in developing a recovery plan <br />is to identify socially. and economically acceptable <br />opportunities for conserving of the species in a changing <br />environment. A variety of causes and conditions have <br />resulted in~an endangered status for these species, and a <br />variety of management measures are needed to recover the <br />species. These management measures are available with <br />current technology, and can be improved through additional <br />objective oriented research. <br />z~4 <br />1 <br />~: <br />~ ~. <br />The Colorado River Basin is, from the standpoint of economic <br />and social development, a water short area. Allocation of <br />water among States is governed by a long-standing interstate <br />water allocation compact which has been ratified by the U.S. <br />~~ Congress, and has been the basis for decrees of~the U.S. <br />Supreme Court. Within individual States, State water rights <br />administration systems control the allocation of water among <br />competing users and uses. For 125 years the state's water <br />rights administration systems have brought order to the use <br />of water, and are essential in the arid West. Alternatives <br />to recover endangered fish species which abrogate <br />long-standing interstate water compacts. or State water <br />rights administration systems are .not."reasonable and <br />prudent", as required by the Endangered Species Act, nor are <br />those kinds of solutions necessary to assure species <br />conservation. Conservation of endangered fish species <br />should and can fit within the context of long-standing <br />interstate compacts and State water rights administration <br />systems. <br />At this point, interstate compact delivery requirements to <br />the Lower Colorado River Basin have not been implemented due <br />to an abundance of flow in the Upper Basin. When these <br />,, <br />8 <br />