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<br />CJanitro ~tates ~rnat( <br /> <br />March 30, 1998 <br /> <br />The Honorable Pete V. Domenici <br />Chairman <br />Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development <br />Committee on Appropriations <br />Washington, D.C. 20510 <br /> <br />Dear Chairman Domenici: <br /> <br />We are writing to request your support for an appropriation <br />in Fiscal Year 1999 of $8,687,000 for the "Upper Colorado <br />Region - Endangered Species Recovery Programs and Activities," <br />within the Bureau of Reclamation. The bulk of that amount, a sum <br />of $7,628,000, is designated for expenditure on construction <br />activities associated with the Recovery Implementation Program <br />for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin <br />(Recovery Program) . <br /> <br />The Recovery Program. is a mutually supported program <br />involving the states of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, <br />environmental organizations, power users, water development <br />interests, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife <br />Service, and the Western Area Power Administration. This <br />Recovery Program, now in its tenth year of operation, has the <br />objective of cooperatively recovering four endangered fish while <br />water development continues in compliance with the Endangered <br />Species Act. <br /> <br />Beginning in Fiscal Year 1994, the Recovery Program <br />initiated specific studies and actions in preparation for the <br />construction activities necessary to recover the endangered fish. <br />These activities included re~toration of fish passage to <br />historical habitat, instream flow protection on the Colorado <br />River (mainstem), Gunnison River, and Yampa River (including <br />enlargement of the existing Elk?ead Reservoir), and reoperation <br />or modification of existing projects. Also included were several <br />fish habitat restoration projects, including restoration of <br />flooded bottomlands and wetlands in Utah and Colprado, and <br />development of facilities for propagation and genetics <br />management. The Fiscal Year 1999 funds we are requesting will <br />enable these vital activities to continue and to be successfully <br />implemented in subsequent fiscal years. <br /> <br />In Fiscal Year 1988, Congress appropriated $1 million to <br />Reclamation for securing water for the endangered fish. These <br />funds have been used to advance that purpose. In Fiscal Year <br />