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ing with other committee members in developing a more accep- table recovery plan. In the interest of reasonableness. the District hopes for a prac- tical recovery program that will preserve endangered species while permitting application of water to beneficial use to con- tinue. DILIGENCE & PROJECTS & COMPACTS Ine of the single most important activities of the Colorado River District through the years has been the filing and maintain- ing diligence on literally hundreds of water decrees. Colorado water law requires filing for a water right, showing some effort of diligence toward putting the water to beneficial use. and proving such diligence to the water court every four years. Times change and some filings have proven to be of little or no value so they were dropped. Others have been maintained by the District to hold open water supply options for the future of Western Colorado. River District decrees, most of them quite senior in Colorado's priority system, will be available when need- ed to build water storage projects. Projects built on River District decrees by the Bureau of Reclamation, Conservancy Districts, or others are: Curecanti (Aspinall) Unit in Gunnison County; Yamcola in Routt County; Ruedi in EaglelPitkin Counties; Silt in Garfield County; Goose Pasture Tarn in Summit County; the Dallas Project in Ouray/MontroselDelta Counties; and Rangely Project in Rio Bian- co County. (0 Some conservancy district projects adjudicated, primarily ".;< through efforts of the River District would be: Yellow Jacket (Rio , ~ Blanco County); Great Northern (Moffat County); Upper Yampa , " -j (Routt); Upper Gunnison (Gunnison); Battlement Mesa (Delta); Bluestone (Garfield); Middle Park (Grand); West Divide (Garfield); Savory Pothook (Moffat); and Fruitland Mesa (Gunnison/Mon- troselDelta). As envisioned in the 50's and 60's, these projects would be the primary means for Colorado to develop and utilize waters allocated to it under the Colorado River Compact of 1922 and the Upper Colorado Compact of 1948. The 1922 Compact, the first landmark document dealing with the division of the water of the Colorado River, preceeded the for- mation of the Colorado River District. District staff and directors, by supporting the position of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, did playa significant role in formulating the 1948 Upper Colorado River Basin Compact to benefit the state with the greatest share of the water. This compact apportions the Upper Basin states' allocated share of the Colorado (7.5 million acre-feet) to the four Upper Basin states... Colorado 51.78%; New Mexico 11.25%; Utah 23%; and Wyoming 14%. , ~ I I FACING UP TO CHANGE 15 Dhe days of building huge water projects with federal funding are, for all practical purposes, coming to an end. The reality of the situation is that the traditional Reclamation projects, for decades the basis for West Slope water development, no longer are accep- table. The Federal Government appears intent on not continuing its historic role in reclaiming the west. Congressional appropria- tions to build reclamation projects no longer have the political support of yesteryear. In the late 1970's, this change in attitude and new federal policy brought about a redirection of the River District, the finan- cing and development of water storage projects with non-federal funds. The proposed Juniper-Cross Mountain Hydroelectric Project on the Yampa River west of Craig exemplifies the change from building projects with federal dollars to seeking financing in the private sector. The District was joined in the permitting process required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission WERe) d