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\", C'i C",l o :,-) ~.- -' . CHAPTER V STAGE TWO PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT wildlife measures During initial planning for the Grand Valley Unit, Reclamation accepted a Fish and Wildlife Service recommendation concerning mitigation of wildlife habitat and hunting losses. The recommendat ion was for acquisition and development of 4,000 acres of land along the Colorado River for wildlife habitat. Approximately 2,800 acres of land would be acquired and developed on valley farms. It was assumed that the remain- ing 1,200 acres would be developed through a voluntary SCS wildlife program; and if the SCS program did not succeed, Reclamation would acquIre and develop the land. For Stage One, Reclamation recommended that a proportionate amount of the above plan be implemented. In addition, a wildlife watering pond was planned on the desert side of the Government Highline Canal to attract wildlife away from the lined canal and to also help offset habitat losses. These measures have not been implemented because wild- life funding for the Grand Valley Unit has not been authorized by Congress nor has legislation been enacted to mitigate for wildlife losses. The Fish and Wildlife Service IS reevaluating its recommendations and to date has not formulated specific measures. Specific plan incre- ments have not been detailed for cost estimates, and instead rough esti- mates were prepared by Rec lamation based upon updated Stage One cost estimates. This was accomplished by determining a ratio of Stage One wildlife plan costs to remaining plan costs. Stage One wildlife costs amounted to 3.57 percent of the remaining total costs. This ratio was then applied to the identified Stage Two plan to yield an estimated cost of $6,480,000. 42