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. . . San Juan and Dolores River Issues Navajo-Gallup Project Update: The staff has been working with the Upper Colorado River Commission on the issue of exporting and using Upper Colorado River Basin water in the Lower Colorado River Basin. The Commission reached tentative agreement on a resolution that would allow the project to proceed in accord with the Colorado River and Upper Colorado River Compacts. The proposed resolution has now been shared with the Lower Basin States. Nevada has indicated that it will not sign such a resolution but would be willing to give New Mexico a letter of support for the Project. California has not considered the resolution given all the work associated with the Quantification Settlement Agreement. Arizona would like to see a seven state resolution. Furthermore, given Nevada's resistance to the resolution, Utah is having second thoughts about signing. This item was discussed further following the Upper Colorado Commission meeting on Jan. 9, with agreement to meet in early February to continue that discussion. We will discuss this item with you further at the Board meeting. Animas-La Plata Project: Staff has been participating with Reclamation and others on the "Project Operations Committee" (POC) formed to oversee the long-term operation, maintenance and replacement activities of the project. The last meeting was held in Durango on Dec. 4. The POC has not been able to agree on a single operating entity for the project and as a result has started discussions of the whole POC as an operating entity. We have asked the Attorney General to help us look into this issue, but in our opinion this is not a workable solution. Also, the CWCB has been cooperating with the Attorney General and others as necessary in the modifications to the project water rights necessitated by the passage of the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act Amendments of2000. The good news is that project construction is proceeding on schedule with excavation for the darn's footprint to begin in late summer of2003. San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program: The Coordination Committee members continue to work revisions to the Long-Range Plan. The Hydrology Committee also continues to work on the hydrologic model of the basin. Of particular note is the stocking of 200,000 Colorado Pikeminnow fingerlings this fall to go with the 148 adults and 800,000 larval fish previously stocked. Also, 6,800 Razorbacks have been stocked to date, which are spawning and surviving. Construction of the fish passage facility at the Public Service Company of New Mexico weir should be completed before spring runoff. Navajo Dam and Reservoir Re-operations EIS: In response to the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program's flow recommendations for the San Juan River, Reclamation is preparing an EIS on the re-operation of Navajo Dam to satisfy those flow recommendations. CWCB have been participating as a cooperating agency. The public comment period on the draft EIS closed on Dec. 4, 2002. Reclamation is currently revising the schedule for completing the EIS with the release of the final EIS anticipated sometime in September 2003. Also, given the extraordinarily drought conditions, maintaining the temporary base flow of 350 cfs through critical habitat continues. New Mexico Personnel Changes: During the Upper Colorado River Commission meeting we were introduced to John D'Antonio, the State Engineer designate. Mr. D'Antonio is expected to replace Tom Turney in the very near future. We also met Estevan Lopez, Interstate Streams Engineer for the first time. . Yampa River Basin Issues Little Snake River CompactInvestigation: in response to the Three Forks Ranch Corporation lawsuit against the City of Cheyenne and the State of Wyoming, the CWCB, the Colorado Attorney General and the Colorado Division of Water Resources undertook ajoint investigation into those 19 I