Briefing Paper to Accompany the Proposed Upper Colorado River and San Juan River Endangered Fish Recovery Act of 1997

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programs have also allowed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to streamline its required consultation process and to reduce financial burdens on water development projects. The Upper Colorado River Program has provided the reasonable and prudent alternative to avoid "jeopardy" Endangered Species Act Section 7 biological opinions on some 400 water supply construction projects located in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming with an aggregate capability to deplete more than 225,000 acre -feet of water per year (about 28,000 acre -feet were historic or "pre- Program" projects that required ESA consultation). The San Juan River Program has served as a part of the reasonable an.prudent alternative for the Animas -La Plata Project (57,100 acre feet of future depletion) in Colorado and New Mexico and the Navajo Indian Irrigation project (133,000 acre feet of pre - program depletion) in New Mexico and will provide the reasonable and prudent alternative for future development as "sufficient" progress is made in the recovery of the endangered fish. The protection and development of Indian Trust Assets and the success of key water rights settlements in the San Juan River depend upon the success of the San Juan Recovery Implementation Plan. Secure funding for the capital projects and the continued research necessary for the recovery of the species are critical to the protection of these assets and honoring the provisions of the water rights settlements. In the San Juan River Program, substantial progress has been made in the identification of limiting factors for the species through the cooperation of program participants, and recovery activities are just beginning. Nevertheless, the initial phase of the Animas -La Plata Project and construction of Blocks 1 -8 of the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project have been able to proceed because of the program. Requests for funding for the recovery programs have received considerable support in Congress because the programs serve as a dispute resolution mechanism and provide a means to solve a very complex set of problems in the Upper Colorado River and San Juan River Basins. Since 1988, the programs have been relied primarily on the good will of Congressional appropriators and the Department of the Interior for adequate funding because, while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has clear authority to undertake capital projects under the federal Endangered Species Act, no such clear authority exists for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to participate in the recovery programs. However, as the amount of funding required is increasing because capital construction projects are finally under way, program participants believe these recovery programs may begin competing with other federal priorities. As a result, the program participants want clear statutory authority to help ensure that needed funds continue to be appropriated by Congress.