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• Instead of criteria and procedures for modification of the recovery flow right by the Colorado <br />Water Conservation Board, there would be conditions for re- opening the programmatic <br />opinion by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. <br />Without the baseflow water right, there would no chance of an unanticipated low flow pinch <br />that would precipitate augmentation and enforcement questions under state law. But <br />operational targets could be still set and deliveries from federal projects could still be made <br />and legally protected to improve low flows. <br />These implications may not be so dire, if the conditions for re- opening the Programmatic <br />Opinion do not neutralize its checkpoints on total depletions, and if all of the deliveries from <br />federal projects for the 15 Mile Reach can be legally protected. <br />The most difficult implication for me might be called the delisting conundrum. The <br />Programmatic Opinion can only be operative for so long as the fish are federally listed. If the <br />flows needed for recovery can only be legally protected under the Programmatic Opinion, then <br />technically the fish cannot be delisted. It appears, however, that the water users want the <br />Programmatic Opinion to cover new water development over a very long period of time, through <br />at least the year 2020. It may also take a long time for the endangered fish to respond to the <br />combination of recovery actions that should all be in place by the year 2005. So, it looks like the <br />Programmatic Opinion will have a very long term and that the question of delisting will have to <br />be deferred while this opinion is in force. <br />5 <br />