WSP01117 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

7 The 120,000 acre-feet/year of new depletions represents the amount of additional Reclamation and non-Reclamation water that the Service believes could be depleted from the Upper Colorado River Basin above the confluence with the Gunnison River using new or existing facilities (including depletions that have already occurred since September 1995) and not result in the likelihood of jeopardy or adverse modification of critical habitat so long as the recovery actions are implemented as described herein. The 120,000 acre-feet/year depletion includes non-Reclamation projects and/or facilities that have current biological opinions but have not yet depleted the full amount covered by those biological opinions and water that could be depleted in the near future from facilities without a current Federal nexus, However, non-Reclamation facilities are treated as interrelated because of the likelihood that they will have a Federal nexus at some future point and want to rely on the Recovery Program to avoid the likelihood of jeopardy and adverse modification of critical habitat. The Federal nexus will likely come in the form of facility repairs requiring Army Corps of Engineers permits, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing, Federal agency authorization of right- of-ways, or some other Federal involvement. This 120,000 acre-foot reduction in flows is expected to have the same effect on endangered fish and their critical habitat if removed by existing or new projects. However, we cannot make a judgement on exactly where this 120,000 acre-feet/year of depletion will come from and anticipate that some of it will come from facilities that have yet to be constructed. In recognition of the extreme variability of hydrology and water use demand patterns, the 120,000 acre- feet of new depletions will be calculated as a 10 year moving average as determined by the Colorado Water Conservation Board in consultation with Reclamation and concurred with by the Service (Appendix B), The following elements of the Recovery Action Plan are measures completed, ongoing, or future actions which are part of the action subject to this consultation, As part of the action, the beneficial effects of these recovery actions are taken into consideration in the jeopardy and incidental take analysis, It is the Recovery Program's responsibility to ensure that all elements of the Recovery Action Plan affecting the Colorado River and other rivers are completed and/or implemented consistent with Recovery Program schedules (contained in the April, 1999, "Section 7 Consultation, Sufficient Progress, and Historic Projects Agreement and Recovery Action Plan" and subsequent revisions), The following elements of the Recovery Action Plan address the biological and habitat needs of the endangered fishes, each element involves several recovery actions. These needs are described in the "Status of the Species and Critical Habitat" section of this document.