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<br />Act) by providing the Colorado Ute Tribes an assured long-term water supply and water <br />acquisition fund in order to satisfY the Tribes' senior water rights claims as quantified in the <br />Settlement Act, and to provide for identified municipal and industrial water needs in the project <br />area. The document is available on CD-ROM or the Internet at htto://www.uc.usbr.gov under the <br />Environmental Studies, Summaries & Reports heading. <br /> <br />Reclamation Terminates Plans to Lower Flows in San Juan River Below Navajo <br />Reservoir: On July 7 Reclamation ended its plans to conduct a five-day low-flow test in the San <br />Juan River below Navajo Reservoir. The test was halted because the low flows would not leave <br />enough water in the system for the endangered fishes critical habitat. The test, which requires <br />releases of250 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Navajo Dam, is part of Reclamation's <br />environmental review and data collection process needed for a draft Environmental Impact <br />Statement they are preparing on the operations of Navajo Reservoir. It is expected that minimum <br />flows of250 cfs and high spring peak flows recommended by the San Juan River Basin <br />Recovery Implementation Program, would help conserve the endangered Colorado pikeminnow <br />and razorback sucker. <br /> <br />Yampa and White River Basin <br /> <br />Flaming Gorge EIS: On June 6 Reclamation announced its intent to prepare a draft <br />environmental impact statement for the operaticms of Flaming Gorge Dam. The EIS will describe <br />the effects of operating Flaming Gorge Dam to achieve the flows recommended by the Recovery <br />Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin. A <br />public scoping meetings was held on July 13 in Grand Junction. Written scoping comments <br />should be submitted by Sept. 5. Information about the proposed action and the EIS process can <br />also be found on Reclamation's web site at hll2.;//www.usbr.gov. <br /> <br />Yampa Water Management Planning: The process of assisting the USFWS in the <br />preparation of a Programmatic Biological Opinion for the Yampa River Basin continues. The <br />opinion will evaluate the Upper Colorado Endangered Fish Recovery Program's ability to ensure <br />fish recovery while water development continues in the basin. <br /> <br />A water subcommittee has been discussing mechanisms to supply between 7,000 to 7,700 <br />acre-feet of water when needed for the fish. By supplying this amount of water, planning group <br />participants believe that at least 6,000 to 6,500 acre-feet of water will reach the critical segments <br />where the water is needed most. The subcommittee is narrowing the alternatives for supplying <br />this water. <br /> <br />Another major component of the plan that is being developed involves non-native fish <br />management. This element is extremely controversial locally and we are waiting for the USFWS <br />and the DOW to fill in the blanks in the draft plan. <br /> <br />The Yampa River meeting is scheduled for August 30-31. We hope to complete work on <br />the plan at this meeting so it can be published and analyzed in an EA to be prepared by the <br />USFWS. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Agency News <br /> <br />Personnel: Bill Stanton, the chief of the Office of Conservation Planning has announced <br />that he is retiring on Sept. 1. He has worked for the CWCB since 1977, . <br /> <br />10 <br />