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prudent alternative, if at any point the FWS becomes aware of new information that affects its original determination, it may reinitiate the original consultation. In this case, the FWS may add new terms and conditions to its reasonable and prudent alternative, or may issue a jeopardy opinion. The operation of the ESA has enormous consequences on whether significant water and power resource development activities can occur, and how they can operate. The program contemplated -by the Program Agreement can be relied on to serve as the reasonable and prudent alternative for all water development and use activities in the Platte River Basin that could affect the habitat of the listed species. Therefore, it will serve as an umbrella program, and avoid the litigation, confrontation and disruption that sometimes have resulted from the imposition of the ESA's regulatory force on individual private parties. The Colorado Permixs. Many significant water facilities are located in Colorado's national forests. These include reservoirs and diversion works that serve many of the cities and farms located in the Colorado's South Platte and North Platte Basins. In its consultation on the issuance or renewal of land use authorization permits by the Forest Service for many of these facilities, the FWS has issued jeopardy opinions, because of asserted impacts of water development and use to the habitat in Central Nebraska The FWS has allowed these permits to continue as valid, by virtue of interim conditions pending the finalization of the Platte River program negotiations. If the program is not developed or implemented, these permits will need to go through individual, permit -by- permit consultation, each entity potentially having to bear onerous reasonable and prudent alternatives. The permittees dispute that their activities have an- adverse impact on the listed species or their habitat so extended and expensive litigation with the FWS may also be a likely result if the permit -by- permit approach were to be followed. Colorado's interest in negotiating the program has been to develop as much regulatory certainty for these and other existing water users as possible, while providing defined and measurable contribution to the recovery of the listed species. Colorado has also sought a framework which will allow new water use and development activities to move forward, without the costly and time - consuming compliance that the ESA would otherwise require. The %i gda Relicensing Process. Kingsley Dam, located on the North Platte River in Nebraska, forms Lake McConaughy, a 1 million acre foot reservoir that provides irrigation water and electricity to central Nebraska. For the last 15 years or so, the FERC has undertaken a process for the relicensing of the hydroelectric power - generating features of the dam. One of the major issues in the relicensing is the impact that Kingsley operations have on the listed species and their habitat. In its consultation on the FERC relicensing process, the FWS has proposed two reasonable and prudent alternatives, one with, and one without, a basinwide program. The "without a program" alternative would impose much more onerous requirements on the operation of the facilities associated with Lake McConaughy and Kingsley Dam. 3