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meeting was very strong (all the principally affected Districts and major cities were represented and so was the Ruedi Water and Power Authority and the Bureau of Reclamation). The water users concerns and suggestions were summarized in a July 12 document (attached) that was provided to the FWS and other Recovery Program participants. A group of about 50 people met with the FWS July 20 to discuss these documents and a summary of environmental concerns prepared by The Nature Conservancy (attached). In addition to the FWS, DNR, environmental interests and hydropower interests, there were approximately two dozen water user entities represented. Although there are still several significant concerns, it seems relatively clear that the FWS has a good understanding of the participants' expectations and concerns as well as their willingness to help implement various elements of the recovery action plan. We scheduled a next meeting for August 31 in Grand Junction to review the key issues if necessary, Otherwise, the FWS indicated they are proceeding with preparation of a draft PBO for official review and comment. The basic premise supporting these discussions has been that by implementing a variety of flow-related and other habitat improvements, recovery and protection of the endangered fish species can be accomplished while meeting the growing need for water supplies. To date, our discussions suggest there is still a reasonable chance the FWS will prepare a PBO that protects all existing water supply depletions affecting the l5-Mile Reach and allows development of up to I20 KAF of new depletions based upon the Recovery Program's successful implementation of an acceptable schedule of habitat restoration and related measures. In fact, the prospect of securing such desirable protection for existing and future water supplies may have caused water users in other Colorado River subbasins to express strong interest in a similar arrangement for their water supplies. Behind these discussions, the Recovery Program continues to plan, fund and implement its Recovery Action Plan and to seek approval for its long-term funding legislation in the U.S. Congress. The second preliminary draft PBO runs 63 pages without the appendices (most of which are crucial to the overall concept). If you would like to review the full document, we can arrange to get a copy to you. The overall concept is simplified for discussion purposes below. The Concept: Implement Specific Recoverv Actions While Existing Supplies are Protected and up to 120.000 AF New Depletions are Developed. The FWS proposes to consult with Reclamation and the Western Area Power Administration on the funding and implementation of the Recovery Program's Recovery Action Plan (the "RIPRAP"). The RIPRAP is a plan designed to offset water depletions, habitat modifications and population decline. Therefore, the FWS will consider all existing depletions), storage operations at Reclamation facilities and l20KAF of new depletions to be included as interrelated elements of the Recovery Program. This begins to sound like the level of protection (at least for one subbasin) we thought we were signing up for in 1988! The I20,000 AF of new depletions may proceed concurrently with implementation of the recovery actions and will be monitored by the FWS and CWCB jointly using the Cameo gage and our Colorado River Decision Support System (CRDSS). A 10-year running average will be used 3 Existing depletions are defined as those in eftw prior to September 1995 plus 3 set ofRuedi Round 1 (7850 AF) and Round 11 (6135 AF) contracts and the entire contract pool (20,000 AF) in Green Mountain Reservoir. They are estimated to include I million AF on average (ranging between 877.000 AF and 1.172 million AF) and appear to include approximatelv equal amounts of depiction for the west and east slopes. Flood Control and Floodplain Management.Larry Lang, Chief. Water Project Planning and Construction- Mike Serlet, Chief. Instream Flows and Water Rights Investigations-Dan Merriman, Chief . Interstate Streams Investigations-Randy Seaholm, Chief. Office of ConsetVation Planning-William Stanton, Chief. Personnel and Budget -Susan Maul, Chief .. . .