Review Decision on the Cheif's Appeal Decision, Arapahoe & Roosevelt Natl. Forests

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consistent with the direction of that act, namely that the Forest Service manage water uses in accordance with state and federal law. 4. Federal and State Cooperation Managing water uses on National Forest System land in accordance with state and federal law requires the Forest Service to coordinate its water resource objectives with state appropriation and allocation processes. Water needed to meet federal land management responsibilities, for example, should be identified by the Forest Service and the states in a cooperative planning effort that involves local governments, and the interests of water rights holders and other interested parties. This approach should be used to identify the amount of water on National Forest System lands available for appropriation. Occasionally conflicts will arise between federal responsibilities, such as the requirement to protect and recover federally listed threatened and endangered species, and the administration of water rights pursuant to state authority. These conflicts are best avoided through careful advance planning. However, in those instances when conflicts do arise, they should be resolved by federal and state authorities working together in cooperation with water right holders, and where appropriate tribal and local governments, and other interested parties, not through unilateral regulatory action on the part of the Forest Service. Report of the Federal Water Rights Task Force (August 25, 1997) One issue raised on appeal was that the Revised Forest Plan did not include or address the findings of the Report of the Federal Water Rights Task Force. In his Decision, the Chief noted that the ARNFPNG began scoping for the Revised Plan in July 1990 and the comment period on the DEIS ended in June 1996. Since the Task Force Report was not issued until August 1997, the Task Force information was not available until well after the comment period ended. The Chief is technically correct. The Task Force Report does, however, include information and recommendations that are helpful in identifying methods to improve cooperation between the Forest Service, states, water right holders, and the public. For example, the Task Force Report recommends that National Forest purposes be achieved whenever possible, using alternative water management strategies (e.g., system optimization, watershed approaches, etc.), rather than using bypass flow requirements; that the Forest Service recognize and use state programs that protect instream flows, to acquire rights and provide water for National Forest purposes wherever adequate state programs are available; and that the Forest Service should seek voluntary agreements with nonfederal water rights holders who might otherwise use their rights inconsistently with National Forest purposes. The Task Force Report also offers a number of specific recommendations that can be helpful in future efforts to develop state / federal cooperative programs including: 7