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<br />stipulations will be held in state water caurt. It is antici- <br /> <br />pated that final consent decrees will be entered by the court in <br />the fall of this year. <br /> <br />VI. Endangered Species Problems <br /> <br />On May 7, 1990, shortly before the scheduled ground- <br />breaking ceremony for the Animas-La Plata Project, the FWS issued <br />a draft biolagical opinion regarding ALP. This opinion threat- <br /> <br />, <br />~ <br /> <br />ened the last six years of negatiatians and the settlement of the <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />tribes' reserved water right claims, and reversed an earlier 1979 <br /> <br />final biological opinion on ALP issued by the FWS. The May 7 <br />opinion stated, in part, that construction of ALP might jeopard- <br />ize the continued existence of the endangered Colorado squawfish <br /> <br />and that no reasonable and prudent alternative was available to <br /> <br />mitigate this harm. The FWS believed that construction of ALP <br />would jeopardize the Colorado squawfish because the project would <br />further deplete water in the San Juan Basin. The FWS further <br />believed that there was no reasonable and prudent mitigation <br />alternative available because there was insufficient factual <br /> <br />~. <br /> <br />. <br />~ <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />~ <br />~ <br /> <br />information about squawfish in the San Juan basin to evaluate <br /> <br />potential alternatives. <br /> <br />To say that the tribes and states were angry and frustrated <br /> <br /> <br />by this late development would be an understatement. In partic- <br /> <br />-13- <br />