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<br />negotiated, and is due in part to legal assumptions made in the "criteria" which Colorado and <br />other Upper Basin states do not concur in. <br /> <br />As of 1985, the best estimate of Colorado's average annual consumptive use of Colorado River <br />water was 2.3 million acre-feet. (For further discussion on water demands, see Section 2.3). <br />However, summing the maximum consumptive use by projects currently in-place yields a value <br />of approximately 2.6 million acre-feet, indicating that Colorado may have as little as 450,000 <br />acre-feet left to develop under its Colorado River Compact apportionment. These values are <br />now in the process of being reviewed and refmed through the development of the Colorado <br />River Decision Support System. <br /> <br />Additional development in the Colorado River Basin is also dependent on maintaining sufficient <br />progress under the Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper <br />Colorado River Basin (the "Recovery Program"). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) <br />has listed four Colorado River fishes (Colorado squawfish, humpback chub, bonytail chub and <br />razorback sucker) as endangered. Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) each federal agency <br />shall insure that any action is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any listed <br />species or result in the destmction or adverse modification of critical habitat for the species. <br />The "Recovery Program" was established through a cooperative agreement signed by the <br />Secretary of Interior, the Western Area Power Administration, the states of Colorado, Wyoming <br />and Utah, water users, environmental groups and others. The purpose of the program is to <br />recover the endangered fish species in the Upper Colorado River basin while allowing water <br />development to continue by acting as the "reasonable and prndent alternative" upon which the <br />Service relies when asked to issue a biological opinion for any given project in the Upper <br />Colorado River basin. The program is comprised of specific actions the parties involved have <br />agreed to take toward full recovery of the endangered fish. <br /> <br />One of the most significant aspect of the "Recovery Program" from the perspective of this report <br />is the appropriation of recovery instream flows. Each state will appropriate recovery instream <br />flows in accordance with state water law and in a manner that will be most beneficial for the <br />endangered fish. The recommended recovery instream flow appropriations will be of a relatively <br />large magnitude and will significantly impact when future water rights will have water available <br />to them. Failure to appropriate recovery instream flows would likely result in a fmding of <br />insufficient progress by the Service and the issuance of jeopardy opinions for projects proposed <br />in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Thus, the states are motivated to assure that the "Recovery <br />Program" succeeds. As a result, Colorado envisions needing to be able to fully manage all its <br />water resources to the maximum extent possible in order to fully develop its compact <br />apportionment while meeting the goals of the "Recovery Program." <br /> <br />The South Platte River compact was negotiated to prevent diversions by water rights in the lower <br />reach (east ofthe Washington-Morgan County line) junior to June 14, 1897, during the irrigation <br />season (April 1 to October 15) when the flow of the Julesburg gaging station is less than 120 <br />c.f.s.There are no constraints on use outside the irrigation season or above the lower reach. <br />The flow at Julesburg does not fall below 120 c.f.s. except in July and August in nonnal years <br /> <br />8 <br />