BOARD01685

• Board Meeting Date: 1/27/1999
• Description: WSP Section - Colorado River Basin Issues - San Juan Recovery Program - Status Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Agenda Item 18m
January 27-28. 1999 Board Meeting
Page 2 of2

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actions reduce, if not eliminate, the ability of the states to have an effective voice
in the Recovery Program, The Board directed staff at its November 1998 meeting
to seek amendments to the "Recovery Program Document" that will restore an
equitable voice for the states and water users in the recovery program, The
recommendation included direction that any federal agency required to participate
in the San Juan Recovery Program pursuant to a Section 7 Consultation has no
vote on the Coordination and Biology Committees or be required to share a vote
with another federal agency on those committees, If a satisfactory solution can
not be reached at the Coordination Committee level, the "Program Document"
will be referred to original signatories for appropriate modifications as provided
for in Section 5,1.1 of the "Program Document." Staff has no progress to report
on this matter.

AD HOC SECTION 7 COMMITTEE

This committee met on January 11, 1999 in Albuquerque to discuss the
development of, "Principles for Establishing the San Juan River Basin Recovery
Implementation Program as the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative for Water
Depletions in the San Juan River Basin," Areas of discussion included the
following:
. Endangered Species Act Compliance
. Indian Trust Responsibilities
. Animas-La Plata Project Baseline Conditions
· Relationship of Flow Recommendations to the availability of
300,000 AF from Navajo Reservoir 96% of the time requirement.
· A Minor Depletion Allowance (the existing 3,000 AF has been used)
. Long Range Plan Implementation
. Congressional Appropriations
· Identification of Capital Projects to develop a RlPRAP
. Sufficient Progress
. Implementation of the Flow Recommendations
. Hydrologic Model Use & Maintenance
. 'Depletion Baseline vs. Environmental Baseline Issues
. Administerability
. The 122,000 AF offuture development ceiling
. Incidental Take and Harm issues

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As you can see there are a number of issues to address and we will keep you
informed of developments as we progress.

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT

Public involvement remains a significant issue for this program. We will
continue to work to find ways for more public input and coordination with the San
Juan Recovery Program.

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