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- . . The Steering Committee continues to make progress in the development of a federaVnonfederal cost- sharing package for long-term funding of implementation of the 50-year program, The non federal partners have prepared a proposal that has been forwarded to Reclamation for consideration, The proposal reflects a total program need of $600 million, Of the $600 million, $200 million would be made available from the Boulder Dam Fund, $300 million in appropriations to the Bureau of Reclamation, and the remaining $100 million from the nonfedera\ participants, Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher: During late January, the USFWS held public scoping meetings associated with the USFWS's proposed designation of critical habitat for the Southwestern willow flycatcher (SWWIFL), The meetings were held throughout the Southwestern United States, The purpose of the meetings was to provide the public with information related to the process the USFWS intends to utilize for designation of critical habitat for the SWWIFL and to solicit concerns and issues that the public believes the USFWS should consider in preparing the critical habitat designation, The proposed designation is creating problems for the San Juan Recovery Program as discussed under the Navajo Dam Biological Opinion. The comment deadline was Mar, 8, Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program: The Adaptive Management Workgroup (AMWG) met in Phoenix on March 3-4 to develop a recommendation to the Secretary of Interior on the FY 2005 budget and to discuss other aspects of the program, The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) and the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program (GCDAMP) are currently requesting $11,3 million for FY 2005, Perhaps the most significant part of the FY 2005 budget was an agreement to do a concurrent estimate of the Humpback Chub population in the canyon, which would allow the clock for the recovery goals to start. Also, two-day session of the GCDAMP Technical Work Group (TWG) was held on Feb, 2-3 in Phoenix, The TWG meeting focused on a review of the Glen Canyon Dam Multi-Attribute Trade-off Analysis (MAT A) evaluation process, The MAT A process provides a review the science-based aspects of the GCDAMP and helps develop proposed recommendations for the GCDAMP that provide ways to better manage the natural resources of the Glen and Grand Canyons, The most significant recommendation coming out of the MAT A process to date is that the preferred alternative, modified low-fluctuating flows, identified in the 1995 Final Operation of Glen Canyon Dam Environmental Impact Statement is not having the desired affect on downstream resources, particularly the endangered Hwnpback chub populations and the sediment budget of the river. The GCMRC also provided an overview of its proposed reorganization plan under the umbrella of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Science Center, The GCMRC is tasked with providing the science and data management functions for the GCDAMP, The proposed GCMRC strategic plan would utilize a more robust decision-support system and rely on other available scientific resources within the USGS, The next TWG meeting is scheduled for March 30th, New Water Group: On Feb, lOa group of water users called the Grand Valley Water Planning Organization gathered to discuss forming a new governmental entity to build a two Grand Valley storage projects to store as much as 500,000 acre-feet of water, The group includes the Palisade Irrigation District, Clifton Water District, the cities of Fruita and Grand Junction, Mesa County Irrigation District, Grand Valley Water Users Association, Orchard Mesa Irrigation District, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Ute Water Conservancy District. A retired Bureau of Reclamation water resources engineer named Don Clay devised the plan when he broke off of the group which supported building the Dominguez Project near 19 -