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210 from Fannington would be used to determine if base flows are being met. The details of this 21 I monitoring will be agreed upon between Reclamation and the Service. In practice, Reclamation 212 and the Service would discuss flows at least weekly during the summer months to determine 213 releases needed to meet base now recommendations. Unusually high inflows in the fall would 214 be released as a fall spike. 215 216 Reclamation will utilize existing Navajo Reservoir Operations Meetings, held three times a year, 217 to discuss the upcoming period's operations. At these meetings, held in January, April, and 218 August of each year, Reclamation will solicit input regarding the many and diverse affected 219 resources on the San Juan River from members of the public, government (local, state, Federal) 220 agencies, tribes, and others to gain the required information needed to set water releases from 221 Navajo Reservoir. For each operation meeting, Reclamation will also utilize existing water 222 inflow forecasts, reservoir level, and historic averages to predict the upcoming water supply 223 available to meet endangered fish flow recommendations and authorized purposes. This 224 information will be analyzed and considered by Reclamation to develop an operation plan. The 225 operations will fall within the sideboards analyzed within the Navajo Reservoir Operations EIS, 226 with releases between 250 and 5,000 cfs. 227 Inherent in the operation of Navajo Dam there exist variables that influence dam operations 228 under all conditions and these must be considered when evaluating operations. These influences 229 include changes or errors associated with inflow forecasts, fluctuations in the Animas River, 230 strong precipitation events, the water's travel time down the river after an adjustment at the dam 231 occurs, gage errors and discrepancies, contractual obligations with the city of Fannington 232 (powerplant operations), and maintenance needs at Navajo Dam. 233 Two areas of flexibility may exist in the reservoir's operations. First, water committed for future 234 development but not currently used offers flexibility in reservoir releases. This is a significant 235 amount of water and it could be incorporated into operations to maintain a 250 cfs or greater 236 release outside the runoff season, to extend the duration of the spring peak, or for other uses. 237 The decision on how this water would be released will be made in discussion with the Service 238 during the Navajo Operations Meeting process. As this water begins to be developed and 239 depleted through the upcoming years, this flexibility would likely be reduced. 240 The second area of flexibility exists as full water development occurs. Minimum releases would 241 be no lower than 250 cfs, but existing flexibility within the endangered fish flow 242 recommendations could occasionally allow minimum summer releases to be above 250 cfs when 243 Animas flows were relatively low and downstream flows did not exceed 1,000 cfs. During the 244 Navajo Reservoir Operations Meetings and in discussions with the Service, an operation plan to 245 meet endangered fish flows, authorized project purposes, and water development needs will be 246 prepared. Unutilized or unaccounted for water, resulting from the aforementioned variables, 247 would be identified and used to increase summer releases or for other uses. 248 9