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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />o <br />o.!" <br />Ul <br />C.U <br /> <br />Fish and Wildlife Service <br />Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Program <br />Accomplishments for Fiscal Year 1997 <br /> <br />The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has monitored Work Group and Forum meetings and has <br />cooperated with Basin States and other cooperating Federal agencies over the past year. .The <br />FWS supports agency actions to control salinity and thereby improve water quality that is vital <br />to aquatic and terrestrial resources throughout the Colorado River Basin. <br /> <br />Under authority of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act and the Endangered Species Act the <br />FWS continues to provide comments and recommendations regarding fish and wildlife resources <br />on specific projects and programs. Reduced funding for Salinity Control Projects in recent years <br />has limited our participation to an as needed basis. The FWS continues to stress the importance <br />of wetlands protection, concurrent and proportionate mitigation of all wildlife losses, and the <br />protection of endangered species and their critical habitats throughout the Colorado River Basin. <br /> <br />Reclamation and the Bureau of Land Management projects have fully addressed wildlife <br />concerns to date. The Service takes particular note of Reclamations' mitigation offerts on the <br />Grand Valley Salinity Project. All mitigation goals have been met.. . ahead of schedule. <br />Replacement of wetlands values and other important aquatic and terrestrial wildlife habitats has <br />been concurrent and proportionate. The Department of Agricultures' voluntary on-farm <br />replacement program was not as sucessful as was hoped. NRCS mitigation requirements on <br />Salinity Control Projects have lagged behind irrigation improvements. The FWS will continue to <br />work with NRCS as they implement the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQUIP) to <br />ensure diversified protection and development of fish and wildlife resources throughout the <br />Colorado River Basin. <br /> <br />The Service is currently consulting, under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, with the <br />Bureau of Reclamation on Price/San Rafael Rivers Unit. <br /> <br />The FWS anticipates a similar level of involvement for fiscal year 1998. <br /> <br />5 <br /> <br />,I <br /> <br />-'- '-, <br />_., '"'. n_ d.; <br /> <br />),1': ,~~~ <br />