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<br />San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program: The Coordination Committee met on Feb. 26 <br />in Farmington, however, staff was unable to attend this meeting. Work continues on revisions to the <br />Long-Range Plan. <br /> <br />Navajo Dam and Reservoir Re-operations EIS: In response to the San Juan River Recovery . <br />Implementation Program's flow recommendations for the San Juan River, Reclamation is preparing an <br />EIS on the re-operation of Navajo Dam to meet those flow recommendations. The CWCB has been <br />participating as a cooperating agency. The DEIS public .comment period ended on Dec. 4, 2002. 350 <br />comment letters were received and Reclamation is now in the process of writing responses and making <br />necessary document revisions. <br /> <br />The completion schedule now shows that a final EIS will be released in September and the Record of <br />Decision completed by the end of the year. A Preliminary Final EIS (PFEIS) will be provided to the <br />cooperating agencies in late May, with final comments due by July 1. <br /> <br />A final cooperating agency meeting will be held during the first two weeks of July in Farmington. <br />Maintaining the temporary base flow of 350 cfs through critical habitat continues given the drought <br />conditions. <br /> <br />For more information on San Juan River Basin recovery activities visit http://southwest.fws.gov/sirip/ <br /> <br />New Mexico Water Users Extend Cloud Seeding: The San Juan Water Commission in Farmington, <br />New Mexico has provided up to an additional $36,000 to extend Cloud seeding operations two months <br />this winter over the upper La Plata, Animas and Florida River Basins. The additional funding will <br />allow the network of 12 ground-based cloud nuclei generators operated by Western Weather <br />Consultants, LLC to provide approximately 1,200 hours of seeding operations during the months of <br />February and March, 2003. The first three months ofthis winter's operations were funded by <br />contributions from the Dolores and Animas/LaPlata Water Conservancy Districts, the City of Durango <br />and Durango Mountain Resort along with matching funds from the Southwestern Water Conservation . <br />District. <br /> <br />This is the first time an out of State entity has participated in cloud seeding operations in the State of <br />Colorado for the benefit of water users in both States. Other areas of the San Juan Mountains where <br />interstate participation in cloud seeding programs could be considered are around the Chama Diversion <br />Project and the headwaters of the Rio Grande River. <br /> <br />Recovery Steps Identified for Endangered Bird: The:DSFWS has finalized a recovery plan for the <br />Southwestern willow flycatcher, an endangered bird that migrates from Latin America. The flycatcher <br />can be found in Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, southwestern Colorado and the southern <br />portions of California, Nevada and Utah. A copy of the plan can be downloaded from the Internet at <br />http://arizonaes. fws. gov. <br /> <br />Yampa/White River Basin <br /> <br />Little Snake River Compact Investigation: in response to the Three Forks Ranch Corporation <br />lawsuit against the City of Cheyenne and the State of Wyoming, the CWCB, the Colorado Attorney <br />General and the Colorado Division of Water Resources:undertook a joint investigation into those <br />allegations. The results ofthis investigation were made public on January 29, 2003. On January 10, <br />2003 a hearing was held in Colorado District Court before Judge Daniel. Judge Daniel issued his <br />opinion in this case on February 28,2003. He granted Wyoming's Rule 12(b) and 19 motions to <br />dismiss. He also granted the City of Cheyenne's motion to dismiss pursuant to 12(b)(2), (3), (6) and <br />(7). He denied the remaining motions as moot and ordered that the entire case be dismissed with <br />prejudice. Finally, the staff has been discussing with the Wyoming Water Development Commission . <br />joint participation in a reconnaissance level reservoir site investigation in the Little Snake basin. The <br />Wyoming Water Development Commission has already contracted with Gannett Fleming for the <br />performance ofthis study and we are currently cooperating with them in this effort and exploring ways <br /> <br />32 <br />