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, Mr. David Getches Page Two . We believe that an understanding of the effects of those planned depletions is vital to development of a meaningful conservation plan. We hope you will use your good offices to assure that such an analysis is undertaken. Second, we are concerned that the Bureau of Reclamation, which is a Committee member, is insisting upon completion of the section 7 consultation for a second round of water sales from Ruedi Reservoir before the Committee has had an opportunity to fashion a comprehensive conservation plan. Since water sales from Ruedi will further limit the agencies' flexibility in fashioning a comprehensive conservation plan, we believe the Bureau should have refrained from pressuring the Fish and Wild- life Service to complete the section 7 consultation on this project until the Committee has completed its deliberations. At a minimum, the Bureau should have discussed this issue fully with the Coordinating Committee. We hope that the Bureau's action~ will be a topic of discussion at the Committee's next meeting. Finally, in the spirit of the Committee's search for a comprehensive conservation plan, we have identified the key principles upon which such a plan should be based. In a like vein, we intend to suggest that the Committee consider, as part .Of its deliberations, the adequacy of state water rights systems to foster innovative approaches to accommodating the needs of the fishes with water development. 1, Technical Analyses Needed to Carry Out Meaninqful Section 7 Consultations The Committee is charged not only with development of a comprehensive, long-range plan for recovery of the species, but also must examine strategies for responding to consultations initiated pursuant to section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The approach used in the section 7 consultations is of special concern to us because of the depressed status of the listed species and the manifold threats to their continued existence. In preparing a biological opinion, the Fish and Wildlife Service must, of course, assume that the depletions and other physical changes predicted in a p~rmit application will in fact take place, just as the agency has no choice but to assume that depletions reviewed in previous consultations will occur. As a result, we had expected that in assessing the effect of future depletions on the system's hydrologic regime the hydrology subco- mm'ttee would examine the effects of the depletions enV1Sloned ~y the ending and previously completed consultatlons. e un er- stand that Slnce __ t e F1Sh an Wl 1 e erVlce has com- pleted at least seventy-eight consultations on water-related .