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. . . Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management,Program: The Adaptive Management Workgroup, over Colorado's objections, recommended an experimental flow test similar to the 1996 Beach\Habitat Building Flow in which releases from Glen Canyon Dam were made in excess of power plant capacity to test the ability of those operations to conserve sediment resources. Sediment inputs were not sufficient to run flows for sediment conservation purposes this year. Thus, beginning in January and continuing through March releases will range between 20,000 cfs and 5,000 cfs in an attempt to reduce spawning and recruitment of non-native fish. The high flows will be held for about nine hours and the low flows for about eight hours. Release volumes during January, February and March will be 788,000, 712,000 and 788,000 acre-feet respectively, with daily average flows of around 12,800 cfs. The total release volume for the year will still be 8.23 million acre-feet. Staff has also been involved in determining which other activities should be part of new strategic plan and with the development of the annual work plan and program budget. Upper Colorado River. Endangered Fish Recovery Program - Coordinated Facilities Study: The Executive Committee for the Coordinated Facilities Study will meet on Jan. 17 to put the finishing touches on the draft report. We hope to complete the study by March 2003. PL 107-375: Legislation extending the capital construction period for both the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Recovery Programs through 2008 was passed by Congress and signed by the President on December 19, 2002. Recovery Program Funding: Colorado made its first cost share payment pursuant to the Long-term Funding Legislation for the Upper Colorado and San Juan Recovery Programs when it transferred $1,359,200 to the National Fish and Wildlife Federation in December 2002. Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Goals: On Nov. 25, 2002 Earth Justice and the Grand Canyon Trust filed a "60-day Notice of Intent to Sue" the Secretary of Interior and the USFWS because the population goals for recovery are too low. Specifically, in the case of Humpback Chub, they are less than the population numbers the USFWS initially concluded warranted listing of the species. They further claim the goals are not based on the best possible science, rely to heavily on hatchery-raised fish and ignore adequate habitat restoration. Ruedi Reservoir Contract Negotiations: CWCB staffis representing Colorado in contract negotiations with Reclamation and the USFWS to develop a contract to allow the delivery of 10,825 acre-feet of water per year through 2012 to benefit endangered fish and critical habitat in the Colorado mainstem. On Sept. 17, Reclamation made a request to the Upper Colorado Endangered Fish Recovery Program's Management Committee for a program credit to offset costs by Reclamation. The cost issue appears to be resolved with Reclamation and the USFWS agreeing to report the capital costs in the Recovery Program documents and the Recovery Program covering the associated annual operation and maintenance costs. The negotiations on other issues are expected to resume in February. This contract is one of the commitments made in the Programmatic Biological Opinion for the 15- mile reach. The Board will have to approve the contract. Highline Lake Appraisal and Recovery Program Credit: We have received verbal notification from Reclamation that the federal appraisal for the use of 320 AF of storage space at Highline Lake has been completed. The appraisal estimated the value at $150,000. This is considerably less than 13 .