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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The Colorado River Board needs to finalize its procedures for requesting a subcontract. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Reclamation and the Board need to begin preparation of the package of material <br />announcing the contracting process, including a joint press release. <br /> <br />. A meeting needs to be scheduled with the Lower Division States concerning publication <br />of a "Proposed Rule" announcing the methodology for establishing the accounting surface <br />and the procedures for appealing. <br /> <br />. Reclamation needs to justify why it requires 350 acre-feet of Project water. <br /> <br />. The next meeting was set for late October or early November 1999. <br /> <br />Colorado River Endangered fish Species <br /> <br />The draft Conservation Strategy report prepared by Ogden Environmental and Energy <br />Resources (Ogden) which was submitted to the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation <br />Program (LCR MSCP) Steering Committee in May 1999 has been reviewed by a panel of scientists <br />convened by the American Institute of Biological Sciences. This peer review panel provided draft <br />written comments on the draft Conservation Strategy report and also met with LCR MSCP program <br />representatives on July 12, 1999. The panel stated that the initial twenty-two conservation areas <br />recornnlended for restoration programs were good candidate area~. The panel made numerous <br />suggestions regarding the report. The most significant recommendation was that the conservation <br />program should be habitat based in order to benefit the largest number of species possible. Riparian <br />restoration programs should include the mesquite habitat type in addition to cottonwood/willow <br />habitat. Suggestions for fish included using existing backwaters by isolating them from the river and <br />allowing native fish to grow large enough to compete with non-natives, then re-open the backwater <br />to the river, allowing the native fish to re-populate the river. The panel suggested that this method <br />would be preferable to stocking hatchery reared fish. The panel recommended that a detailed analysis <br />be conducted for all potential restoration sites to determine such things as soil moisture, depth to the <br />water table, and salinity before restoration was undertaken. A final report from the.scientific review <br />panel is expected later this month. <br /> <br />The LCR MSCP has decided to develop an Adaptive Management Program to be used in <br />implementing the Multi-Species Conservation Program (MSCP). It is anticipated that fish, wildlife <br />and habitat conservation programs will require changes over the fifty-year life of the LCR MSCP. <br />Adaptive management will be essential to the success of the program. Research, monitoring and <br />adaptive management will ensure scientifically valid integration and implementation of the MSCP <br />elements and the long-term success of species and habitat conservation while also ensuring the <br />continued and future utilization of Lower Colorado River water, power and recreational resources. <br /> <br />The LCR MSCP Steering Committee will meet on August 26,1999, in Las Vegas to consider <br />several key issues regarding the status of the program. These issues include the schedule, current <br />program's organizational structure, the conservation alternatives for NEPA and CEQA coverage, and <br />contract options. Under the current schedule, the draft MSCP is to be completed by December, 2000. <br /> <br />4 <br />