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<br />0461 <br /> <br />1.8 <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />In spite of the current decrease in interest in developing the oil shale <br />industry, it is still anticipated that the ultimate requests for water will <br />largely reflect approximately an 80:20 ratio between industrial and <br />municipal/domestic uses, respectively, which was utilized in the analyses in the <br />Draft Supplement. The analyses in the Draft Supplement are further considered <br />to still be valid because any major reduction in requests for industrial water <br />would make the analyses even more conservative, i.e., the analyses have evaluated <br />a very high industrial demand which may not be achieved until much further into <br />the future than originally anticipated, if at all. Thus, this FSES is evaluating <br />water sales at a level much greater than may reasonably be expected in the <br />short-term (15 to 20 years). Considering these varied water requirements, the <br />FSES has analyzed the environmental implications of various magnitudes of water <br />sales, conservation measures, demand schedules, and depletions to Ruedi Reservoir <br />and the associated river basins above the Cameo gage on the Colorado River. <br />Ultimately, the FSES will be one element used by Reclamation to determine <br />the water quantity and uses related to sale of Ruedi water, and has served as <br />the basis for a Biological Assessment of the impacts on threatened and endangered <br />species as required by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended and <br />supplemented with interagency memos. A specific Biological Assessment was <br />prepared as a separate document. Section 7 consultation waS completed with the <br />U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and a Biological Opinion was rendered on <br />June 15, 1987. Reclamation requested that the Biological Opinions for the Green <br />Mountain and Ruedi Reservoir water sales be combined and the FWS concurred. The <br />Biological Opinion concluded the Green Mountain Reservoir water marketing program <br />.and the Ruedi Round II water marketing program are not likely to jeopardize the <br />Colorado River endangered fishes, provided that certain conservation measures <br />be implemented by Reclamation. The conservation measures (increased flow for <br />endangered fish species during specific periods of the year) have been analyzed <br />in this FSES. <br /> <br />1.4 ScoDe of Issues to be Addressed <br />This FSES culminates a long period of analysis by Reclamation and its <br />contractors. The process started when Reclamation determined that additional <br />water sales from Ruedi Reservoir (one round of water sales occurred May 13, 1982) <br />could have significant environmental impacts because of the magnitude of the <br />