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<br />2 <br /> <br />o Reclamation's portion of 120,000 acre-feet/year of new depletions in the Upper <br />Colorado River Basin above the confluence with the Gwmison River; and <br /> <br />o Actions undertaken by the Service, Reclamation, and the Western Area Power <br />Administration in the funding and carrying out of recovery actions for the <br />Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper <br />Colorado River Basin that affect the Colorado River from Rifle, Colorado, to Lake <br />Powell, Utah, including the 15-Mile Reach ofthe Colorado River, <br /> <br />Treated as interrelated for purposes of this biological opinion in the analysis of the Federal action <br />is the continuation of all non-Federal existing depletions in the Upper Colorado River Basin above <br />the confluence with the Gwmison River, and the non-Reclamation portion of 120,000 acre- <br />feet/year of new depletions in the Upper Colorado River Basin above the confluence with the <br />Gunnison River. The 15-Mile Reach is a river reach that extends from the confluence of the <br />Gwmison River upstream 15 miles to the Grand Valley Irrigation Company Diversion Dam near <br />Palisade, Colorado, The subject water depletions occur above the confluence with the Gunnison <br />River, but they affect flows in critical habitat from Rifle to Lake Powell. This biological opinion <br />was prepared in accordance with section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended <br />(16 U,S.C. 1531 et seq.) and the Interagency Cooperation Regulations (50 CFR 402). <br /> <br />Reclamation, W AP A, and the Service contribute Federal funds to the Recovery Program which <br />may affect listed species, therefore, section 7 consultation is required on such agencies' funding <br />and implementation of the Recovery Program, However, all Recovery Program participants are <br />both individually and collectively responsible for implementing the recovery actions identified in <br />this biological opinion, While all Recovery Program participants and other entities who are <br />responsible for actions identified in this biological opinion are committed to implementing the <br />recovery actions, nothing contained in this opinion alters or amends the voluntary and <br />discretionary nature of the Recovery Program as described in the document that initiated the <br />Recovery Program (September 29,1987), the 1988 Cooperative Agreement implementing the <br />Recovery Program and the Section 7 Sufficient Progress and Historic Projects Agreement <br />(USFWS 1993), If the Recovery Program fails to carry out any activities which are part ofthe <br />proposed action or the terms and conditions of the Incidental Take Statement, it will not become <br />the Service, Reclamation, nor W AP A's responsibility to do so, If this opinion becomes invalid <br />because the Recovery Program were to cease to exist and consultation was reinitiated, the <br />Service, Reclamation and W AP A's only responsibility will be that which results from section 7 <br />consultations on their individual Federal actions, However, section 7 (a)(I) of the Endangered <br />Species Act provides that the Secretary shall review programs administered by him and utilize <br />such programs in furtherance of the purposes of the Act and requires Federal agencies to utilize <br />their authorities to carry out programs for the conservation of endangered species; therefore, if <br />the Recovery Program fails, the Federal Agencies are still obligated to take measures to conserve <br />the endangered fishes. The participation in the Recovery Program and the facilitation of <br />implementing the recovery actions as discussed in this biological opinion address the participating <br />Federal Agencies' application of section 7 (a)(1), This biological opinion is not a precedent for <br />