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<br />Attachment A - Background Information <br /> <br />In 1988, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), the states of Colorado, Wyoming and <br />Utah, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the Western Area Power Administration, <br />Water Users and Environmental Groups, established a Recovery Program aimed at recovering <br />endangered native Colorado River fish species. The Recovery Program identified a 15 mile long <br />section of the Colorado River extending from Palisade, Colorado to the confluence with the <br />Gunnison River as a "sensitive area" for Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker. The <br />Service subsequently identified the 15 Mile Reach as one of the highest priority areas for flow <br />protection, and in 1989 and 1995 established recommendations for mean monthly flows for the <br />head of the Reach'. <br /> <br />Beginning in 1989, the Service, Reclamation and the Colorado Water Conservation Board <br />(CWCB) initiated a plan to release water from Ruedi Reservoir to help meet Service flow <br />recommendations in the 15 Mile Reach. The Ruedi water was released pursuant to the Ruedi <br />Round II water sales Biological Opinion wherein Reclamation committed 5,000 acre-feet of <br />water annually and 5,000 acre-feet in four out offive years to be available to assist in recovery of <br />the endangered fish. Releases were made pursuant to a three-party contract wherein a public <br />meeting was held annually on the western slope; the Service would request flow augmentation <br />based upon criteria presented at the public meting. During low flow periods in the summer and <br />fall, Reclamation would make releases from Ruedi in consultation with the Service and the <br />CWCB, and the State of Colorado would protect the releases to and though the 15 Mile Reach. <br /> <br />After the Ruedi releases for endangered fish began in the summer of 1989, the Recovery <br />Program identified a need for an official U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gage for the 15 Mile <br />Reach. A gage was needed to determine when flows in the Reach were below target and to <br />quantify the volume of reservoir releases delivered to the Reach. The USGS gage was installed <br />in the early spring of 1990 and became operational in October 1990. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />In 1990, the Colorado River Water Conservation District (River District) obtained a Biological <br />Opinion for the operation of Wolford Mountain Reservoir. In the Wolford Biological Opinion, <br />the River District committed 3,000 acre-feet of storage space annually to be used to capture and <br />release water to assist in recovery of the endangered Colorado River fish. The releases from <br />Wolford Mountain are made by the River District in coordination with requests from the Service. <br /> <br />Reclamation in 1991 recognized need to codify the post-l 977 operation of the Orchard Mesa <br />Check structure (Check) and to protect the return flows in the Reach for endangered fish. The <br /> <br />1 "Biologically Defensible Flow Recommendations for the Maintenance and Enhancement of Colorado <br />Squawfish Habitat in the 15 Mile Reach of the Upper Colorado River During July, August, and September," Final <br />Report, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado River Fishery Project, May 1989. <br /> <br />"Relationships Between Flow and Rare Fish Habitat in the 15 Mile Reach of the Upper Colorado River," <br />Final Report, U,S, Fish and Wildlife Service, May 1995. <br /> <br />A-I <br />