7748

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7748
• Author: Western Water Consultants, I.
• Title: Final Report on Little Snake River Depletions by Pot Hook, Three Fork and Powder Wash Rights.
• USFW Year: 1990.
• USFW - Doc Type: Laramie, WY.
• Copyright Material: NO

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1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
In January 1988, the Secretary of the Interior; the Governors of Colorado, Utah,
and Wyoming; and the Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration entered
into a cooperative agreement on the Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered
Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin (Recovery Program). The overall goal
of the Recovery Program is to recover three federally listed endangered fishes, the
Colorado squawfish, humpback chub, and bonytail chub, and to manage the razorback
sucker so that it will not require listing under the Endangered Species Act. The
cooperative agreement established a 10-member Implementation Committee to oversee the
Recovery Program, and at its August 31, 1989 semi-annual meeting, that committee called
for more emphasis on water rights acquisition activities.
The Yampa River Basin including the Little Snake River and its tributaries has
been designated as the first priority for the investigation of water rights acquisition under
the Recovery Program. The Pittsburgh and Midway Coal Mining Company (P&M) has
expressed an interest in trading some of its Little Snake River water rights so they can be
dedicated to instream habitat, while the Colorado River Water Conservation District
(CRWCD) has indicated a willingness to make available its Powder Wash and Pot Hook
water rights in the Little Snake basin for the same purpose.
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