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<br />I..' . I' <br /> <br />Setting the Stage <br /> <br />An understanding of the recovery efforts for endangered fishes of the <br />upper basin requires an appreciation of the importance of the river system as~ ~ <br />a source of water for municipal, industrial, and agricultural purposes. <br />Settlement of the arid west began more than 100 years ago and emphasized a <br />"mastery over nature." The Colorado River was thus altered to develop and <br />control its waters to such an extent to have been described as the most <br />_ heavily used, controlled, and fought-over river in the world (Crawford and <br />Peterson 1974). Although the basin receives less precipitation per square <br />kilometer of drainage than any other major watershed in the United States, it <br />provides more than 15 million people with water (Utah Water Research <br />Laboratory 1975). Further alteration of this already over-allocated resource <br />is considered by some people as necessary to supply water to an expanding <br />human population and to develop some of the largest fuel deposits (cnal, oil, <br />oil shales, and'uranium) in the nation (Bishop et ~. 1975). <br /> <br />Legal control of water began with the Colorado River Compact of 1922. <br />This compact divided the water between the seven states comprising the upper <br />and lower basins, anticipated demands for water in Mexico that were <br />eventually agreed upon, and imposed certain restrictions on quantities and <br />scheduling of flows (Harris et ~. 1982). The 1948 Upper Colorado River <br />Compact provided consumptive water rights for Arizona, California, and <br />Nevada, and apportioned the remainder to the upper basin states of Colorado, <br />New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Division of water among the states cleared <br />the way for development of several major water projects in the upper basin. <br />In 1956, the Colorado River Storage Project Act authorized construction of <br />