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Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />Department of Natural Resources <br />721 Centennial Building <br />1313 Sherman Street <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866 -3441 <br />FAX: (303) 866 -4474 <br />STATE OF COLORADO <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Colorado Water Conservation Board Members <br />FROM: Peter Evans <br />Randy Seaholm <br />DATE: May 8, 1997 <br />SUBJECT: Agenda Item 20b, May 12 -13, 1997 Board Meeting — <br />Colorado River Issues, ENDANGERED SPECIES ISSUES <br />I. COLORADO RIVER RECOVERY PROGRAM <br />A. Programmatic Section 7 Consultation for the 15 Mile Reach <br />A copy of the latest 15 -Mile Reach Strategy Workgroup meeting summary is <br />included as Attachment 1. <br />Roy Romer <br />Governor <br />James S. Lochhead <br />Executive Director, DNR <br />Daries C. Lile, RE. <br />Director, CkVCB <br />We are continuing to work on enhancements to the Colorado River planning <br />model in CRDSS. These enhancements are necessary in order to accurately reflect <br />historic conditions for all existing projects throughout the entire study period and to <br />reflect the benefits of the flow related RIPRAP items in the model. We anticipate that <br />these enhancements will be available by June 1, 1997. The enhanced model runs will <br />provide the hydrologic basis used by the Service in the Programmatic Biological Opinion. <br />Work also continues on the "working proposal" advanced by the environmental <br />community that would serve as the conceptual basis for the draft Programmatic <br />Biological Opinion. The "working proposal' also needs to incorporate the "basic tenets" <br />proposed by the water users. Also, two new RIPRAP elements were incorporated ipto the <br />"working proposal." The first element is to reach agreement on a long -term funding <br />proposal that includes acceptance by the Service that implementation of the RIPRAP <br />would satisfy interim recovery objectives even if they did not result in recovery of the <br />endangered fish. The second change indicates that the RIPRAP items implemented must <br />be maintained into the future in order to sustain the viability of the RIPRAP as the <br />reasonable and prudent alternative. <br />