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. 2. Colorado will loan $17 million to the two recovery programs to be repaid by power revenues collected from Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects Firm Power Contractors. This will allow these contractors to participate in funding the capital costs of the Recovery Implementation Program and meet project repayment obligations within the 50-year time frame established by the Colorado River Storage Project Act with minimal impacts in power rates. Base Funding The bill also authorizes the Bureau of Reclamation to use power revenues to provide $6 million in base funding for the programs through 2011. After 2011, power revenues may only be used to operate and maintain the capital projects and for monitoring, unless Congress authorizes additional funding. At the same time, the states, power customers and Tribes intend to continue to share the on-going costs associated with the program. These costs are significant and include funding for biological studies, management activities, planning, monitoring and evaluations. In fact, Upper Colorado River Basin Program participants are currently discussing how long to extend the two cooperative agreements underlying the recovery programs and how future costs should be shared. Indian Trust Assets Much of the potential water development in the San Juan River Basin is for the benefit of Indian Tribes, and most of the designated critical habitat for the endangered fish is on Indian trust lands. The development of Indian water resources and the resolution ofIndian water rights issues (including the Colorado Ute water rights settlement, the completion of the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project and the Jicarilla Apache water rights settlement) depend upon the success of the San Juan River Program. Secure funding of the recovery efforts is key to the protection ofIndian Trust Assets. This proposed legislation, while not fully funding tribal participation in recovery efforts, will play an important role in protecting Tribal Trust Assets in the San Juan River Basin. Impacts of Proposed Changes on the Endangered Species Act The proposed legislation does not amend the federal Endangered Species Act. Most of the amendments to the Act that have been considered by Congress contemplate changes in how a species is listed, what constitutes the taking and harassment of a species, or the Act's consultation provisions. In fact, none of the amendments proposed since 1991 would have eliminated the need for these recovery programs. Rather, most of the proposed amendments put even greater emphasis on local efforts to protect threatened and endangered species. . .