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.1 ,,, ., . . -~~ ~f/ (fj) . May 2. 1990 ~f)~. .; k '/I(;/' ~)'~ ~r)'- /90, , Honorable Timothy E. Wirth United States Senate 1129 Pennsylvania Street Denver. CO 80203 Re: Consultation on the Animas-La Plata Project Between the Bureau of Reclamation ("the Bureau") and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service ("the Service") under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act ("ESA") Dear Senator Wirth: The settlement of the reserved water rights claims of the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribes executed on December 10. 1986, and imple- mented by Public Law 100-585. with the Animas-La Plata Project as its central focus, is now endangered. We would very much appreciate your help to ensure that construction of the Animas-La Plata Project begins as scheduled. I n a letter dated February 6. 1990. the Bureau re-opened formal consultation regarding the Animas-La Plata Project with the Service under Section 7 of the ESA. A copy of the Bureau's letter re-initiating the formal Section 7 consul- tation is attached as Exhibit "A." In this consultation process, the Service has taken an intransigent and inappropriate position regarding mitigation measures for the protection of the Colorado squawfish and the razorback sucker. The Service's strategy for the protection of endangered fish in the San Juan River ignores the lack of credible biological data regarding the key factors limiting squawfish reproduction, ignores the past role of the Service in the demise of these fish, ignores the possibility that squawfish plantings in the Colorado and other rivers could skew recent research findings, ignores the promises of the federal government to the Colorado Ute Tribes regarding the settlement of their water rights claims, and ignores the impact of the failure of such a settlement on the non-Indian population of Southwestern Colorado. I. Biological Data Fail to Support Any Impact on the Colorado Squawfish or the Razorback Sucker from Animas-La Plata Project Depletion. As you know, the Service. on December 28, 1979. issued a non-jeopardy Biological Opinion on the Animas-la Plata Project pursuant to the Section 7 consultation process. (A copy of that Opinion is attached as Exhibit "B.") That Opinion concluded that stream-flow depletions on the Animas River related to the Animas-La Plata Project will have little, if any, impact on any listed species or any species proposed for listing. The only biological