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<br />Recovery Program accomplishments <br /> <br />Habitat management <br /> <br /> <br />The number of endangered Colorado pikeminnow in the Green River is <br />higher now than at any time since the early 1980s. Biologists believe <br />pikeminnows are increasing as a result of changes in the operation of <br />Flaming Gorge Dam. <br /> <br />. The Colorado Water Conservation Board fIled for two endangered fish in-stream flow water <br />rights that have since been decreed for the Colorado River. One protects 581 cubic feet of <br />water per second between July and September in the Grand Valley. The other protects 300 <br />cubic feet per second of unclaimed irrigation return flows for the downstream end of the Grand <br />Valley. This area is prime habitat for Colorado pikeminnow. <br /> <br />. Program participants coordinated operations of several reservoirs in Colorado during spring <br />1997 and 1998 to provide water for endangered fish. The 1998 releases supplied additional <br />flows of 2,500 cubic feet per second for one week during spring runoff. High flows during <br />this time are crucial for endangered fish spawning. <br /> <br />. Bureau of Reclamation officials have altered the timing of releases from Raming Gorge and <br />Blue Mesa! Aspinall Unit, and Navajo dams, providing researchers with valuable data that will <br />be used to detennine future operations of the dams. Researchers now have completed studies <br />to provide infonnation for further modification of the operation of these dams. Synthesis <br />reports will be completed in 1999 and will be used to develop final biological opinions on dam <br />operations. <br /> <br />. The Utah State Engineer has enacted a water rights policy protecting Green River flows from <br />Flaming Gorge Dam downstream to the Duchesne River for endangered fish. Measured at <br />Jensen, Utah, flows for the fish are to be maintained at 1,100 to 1,800 cubic feet per second in <br />summer and 1,100 to 2,400 cubic feet per second in fall. New water-right requests will be <br />considered in this stretch, but only after these flows have been maintained for endangered fish. <br /> <br />. A multi-party agreement involving the Grand Valley Irrigation Company, Grand Valley Power <br />Plant, Orchard Mesa Irrigation District, Grand Valley Water Users Association, and Bureau of <br />Reclamation has made up to 30,000 acre-feet of water available to endangered fish each year. <br /> <br />. Colorado State Parks, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and the U.S. Fish and <br />Wildlife Service have developed an agreement to release up to 3,300 acre-feet of water <br />annually from Steamboat Lake to benefit endangered fish. In September 1998, a total of 2,000 <br />acre- feet of this water was released to assist in endangered fish research. <br /> <br />. Since 1988, the Service has used Recovery Program accomplishments as the basis for issuing <br />favorable section 7 biological opinions on water depletion projects in Colorado, Utah, and <br />Wyoming. As a result, more than 500 water projects owned by city governments, developers, <br />fanners, oil and gas companies, and others have been constructed or allowed to continue <br />without significant operational changes. These projects have provided 585,000 acre-feet of <br />water for local economic development, of which 462,000 acre-feet are pre-Recovery Program <br />depletions and 123,000 are new depletions. <br /> <br />. The Service continued to waive charges for water projects that deplete fewer than 100 acre-feet <br />of water per year. This arrangement has simplified the section 7 consultation process for many <br />water projects in the upper basin. <br /> <br />8 <br />