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<br />;. <br />~'" <br />/", <br />"')1' ,,,.; <br />.. "., , <br />'" ('1'1'_ ....~,') <br />~ C,~_:.,I., ~(:~1;.~~):: "?fJJ'~~~ <br />:~;;"~,:i.j{r.~,~:~.~);:.... ..-_~_ <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />The <br />Dai'y <br /> <br />, . , <br /> <br /> <br />.~'_O' <br />May 9.'1990 rt"jl.~:<t,"T' <br /> <br />. - '.~.~, - , <br /> <br />Grand Junction, Colorado <br /> <br />';--:',,,,' <br /> <br />~~i;?~*~ . <br />'" '" f <br />' . <br /> <br />en <br /> <br /> <br />,ong OJ <br /> <br />w~s ~N~~; <br /> <br />..." ...._, <br /> <br />u <br />CJI, <br /> <br />.( <br /> <br />, , <br /> <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 />