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<br />Navajo Dam can~t save squawfish
<br />
<br />Bob Silbernagel
<br />Daily Sentinel
<br />
<br />Releasing water from Navajo
<br />Dam to reduce impacts of the Ani-
<br />mas-La Plata project on the endan-
<br />gered squawfisb WlIS not a "reason-
<br />able and prudent alternative" to
<br />halting the project, the U.S. Fish
<br />and Wildlife Service decided.
<br />The U.S. Bureau of Red am at ion
<br />harf proposed releasing more wa-
<br />ter from N a.ajo Dam to reduce the
<br />impacts before the Wildlife Ser-
<br />
<br />~
<br />
<br />Animas-La Plata decision~creating political uproar
<br />
<br />~'i('e on Tuesday sounded the death
<br />lueH for the Animas~La Plata
<br />project.
<br />Even with the additional water
<br />release, the project stiJl would
<br />"jeopardize the continued exi~~
<br />'('nee of the Colorado sqawfish,"
<br />lhe Wildlife Service said.
<br />In the political uproar after the
<br />announcement on Tuesday, Gov.
<br />
<br />Roy Romer said he might request
<br />an exemption from the require-
<br />ments of the Endangered Species
<br />Act.
<br />A special federal committee,
<br />. made up of the Secretary of Interi.
<br />or and heads of other federal agen-
<br />cies, would be required to decide
<br />the request.
<br />The chairman of the Southern
<br />
<br />Ute Indian tribes vowed to fight
<br />the opinion on all fronts. If the
<br />Wildlife Service decision stands,
<br />commitments made to the Indians
<br />over the past 100 years, and more
<br />specifically in the past five years,
<br />will have been broken, said Chair-
<br />man Leona.rd Burch.
<br />The dran biological opinion on
<br />Animas-La Plata notes there were
<br />
<br />discussions with the Bureau of
<br />Reclamation about releasing as
<br />much as 90,800 acre-feet of water
<br />from Navajo Reservoir during the
<br />spring months to make up for
<br />depletions from Animas-La Plata.
<br />Animas-La Plata would get its
<br />water from the A.nimas River, a
<br />tributary of the San Juan River,
<br />where the.squawfish live. Navajo
<br />
<br />-.",
<br />
<br />Reservoir is on the San Juan.
<br />"That water is already being reo .
<br />leased durIng the time that squaw-
<br />fish need it It appeared initially:
<br />there would be additional water'
<br />from storage. but when we looked
<br />at it closer, it would still be a net.
<br />reduction in the water in the riv-
<br />er," Galen Buterbaugh, regional
<br />director of the Wildlife Service,
<br />said in explaining why the idea
<br />WAS rejected. _
<br />And, according to the biological
<br />Please see Aoimas, page SA
<br />
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