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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />B>F <br /> <br />ENVIRONMENTAL <br />DEFENSE FUND <br /> <br />Rock.,- MOl/main Off;Ct' <br />J 405 Arapahoe A \'C. <br />Boulder. CO 80302 <br />(303) 440-4901 <br />Fax: 303.440.8052 <br /> <br />June 8, 1998 <br /> <br />, To: Members of the Recovery Implementation Program Implementation Committee and <br />Members of the Colorado Water Conservation Board <br /> <br />Re: Environmental Defense Fund position on Colorado's instream flow filings for <br />endangered fish <br /> <br />Dear Committee and Board members: <br /> <br />At the May 4, 1998 meeting of the 15 Mile Reach group, the Environmental Defense Fund <br />(EDF) announced its plans to Withdraw its support for both the base and recovery <br />instream flow filings made by the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) in <br />December 1995 for the lower Yampa River and 15 Mile Reach of the Colorado River. <br />Despite the efforts made by a number of the parties to the Recovery Implementation <br />Program (RIP) and the CWCB and its staff to craft filings that provided substantive <br />protection for the fish and, at the same time, protection for Colorado's entitlement and <br />flexibility for Colorado water users, the tenor and content of discussions with objectors <br />has made it clear that a number of water userS win not accept these filings if they are <br />fashioned in a way that provides real protection for the endangered fish. 'In fact, it may be <br />a flaw in the original agreement that created the recovery program in which an adversarial <br />process was appended to a consensus covenant. <br /> <br />: <br /> <br />From our perspective, either instream flows protected under state law work or they don't <br />work. They must be taken together. The real test comes in the difficult cases. We realize <br />that our position has implications not only for the 15 Mile Reach, but alsothe Yampa <br />(including the NEPA process now underway) and other river reaches in Colorado. <br /> <br />Notwithstanding our concerns about the current state of the instream flow filings, EDF <br />has agreed, as a result of subsequent conve'rsations with several participants in the <br />recovery program and the May 18th CWCB invitation to comment on the flow filings, to <br /> <br />take an intermediate step and identify the conditions that would provide substantive <br />protection for the fish and make it possible for us to continue to support the filings. <br /> <br />,\'{lriol1a/ Headquarters <br />'257 Purk Avenue South <br />\'cw York.!\'Y 10010 <br />(2]~J 505-'2100 <br /> <br />1:':1\ E:.ISl Harget1 Sl. <br />R:Jlei~h. NC :7601 <br />(9i9) 821-7793 <br /> <br />.1--4 Ea:-.tl\\'cnuc <br />Auqjn. TX 7!\701 <br />(5\2H7X-5161 <br /> <br />Prr~;('('! (JIlin' <br />6 F:,meuil Hall \brkclpla(;c <br />Boston. !\'IA O:.'lO9 <br />1617) 723.:':4% <br /> <br />]875 Connecticut Ave ~'.\\'. <br />Washington. DC 20009 <br />C02J387-3500 <br /> <br />5655 College Ave. <br />Oakland, CA 946J8 <br />(5]0)658-8008 <br /> <br />lOCl~" POSI-Coosumer Re:;;ycled Pa;>er <br />