1995 Washington, D.C. Briefing Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin

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Recovery Program accomplishments Below are some of the Recovery Program's accomplishments over the last eight years: • Bureau of Reclamation officials have helped improve endangered fish habitat by altering the timing of releases from Flaming Gorge and Blue Mesa reservoirs. These releases enhance river habitat conditions for the fish by providing higher spring flows and lower, more stable flows the rest of the year. The amount of water affected by these changes totals 2.5 million acre -feet each year. • For the last five years, the Bureau of Reclamation has made 10,000 to 20,000 acre -feet of water from northwest Colorado's Ruedi Reservoir available annually for endangered fish. In 1991 and 1992, the program acquired 2,000 acre -feet of water from Steamboat Lake in north- ern Colorado. The reservoir releases have boosted flows in the Yampa River in late summer and early fall, when river flows can be especially low. • The Colorado Water Conservation Board finalized a policy on in- stream flow appropriations for endangered fish. This policy allows flows to be protected while uncertainties are resolved about habitat needs and water availability. • The Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Colorado River Water Conservation District signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a water management and flow protection plan for the Yampa River Basin. • The Colorado Water Conservation Board has filed for an in- stream flow right of 581 cubic feet per second for the "15 -mile reach" of the Colorado River near Grand Junction, Colo. The state also filed to acquire 300 cfs of unclaimed irrigation return flows in this same stretch of river. • The Utah State Engineer has set a new water rights policy for the Green River to protect releas- es from Flaming Gorge Reservoir for endangered fish. • Recovery Program participants finalized an agreement clarifying how Section 7 consultations will be conducted on water depletion projects in the upper basin. • The Service completed an internal Section 7 consultation that waives payment of the charge for projects that deplete less than 100 acre -feet of water per year. • The Fish and Wildlife Service has been meeting with other Federal agencies to determine the need for reinitiation of Section 7 consultation on existing projects as a result of critical habitat listing. • Since 1988, the Service has used Recovery Program accomplishments as a basis for issuing favorable biological opinions on more than 195 water projects in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming with a potential to deplete 186,000 acre -feet of water. E