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Recovery Program benefits water development Since 1988, the U.S. Fish and Wildiife Service has issued favorable biological opinions on more than 170 \\;ater projects in Colorado, Utah and v.,'yoming - all in compliance with the Endangered Species Act. The Service gave favorable opinions on these projects because progress made on the Recovery Program was considered sufficient 10 offset the impact these pro- jects may have 011 endangered fish. Applicants of approved projecTs range from small towns to large oil and gas com- panies. Seventy percent have been in Colorado, with 15 another percent in each of Utah and Wyoming. New projects, or those built after the Recovery Program was in place, account for 75 percent of the total. But more than 40 projects that were built prior to the program also were sub- ject to review under the Endangered Species Act. These projects all recei\'ed favorable biological opinions from the Fish and Wildlife Service. Before 1988. the Service had deter- mined that water depletions were a major barrier to endangered fish recovery. This threatened to block all water development in the upper Colorado River Basin. The Recovery Program was established to solve this contlict and is aimed at recover- ing endangered fish while providing for future water development. I Did you know? . The Colorado squawfish and razorback sucker evolved more than 3 million years ago. In con- trast, modern man has existed only about 250,000 years. . Human impact has caused 40 species and subspecies of fish in North America to become extinct this century. In the upper Colorado River Basin, the greatest impact to native fish has come from stocking of non- native fish species and construction of hun- dreds of dams and water diversions. . Only 14 species ot fish are native to the upper Colorado River Basin; 40 or more non-native species have been introduced. In some places in the Colorado River Basin, non- natives comprise as much as 95 percent of the "biomass;' or totai weight, of existing fish populations. . Over. the last 200 years. wetlands have been been cut by 50 percent in Colorado, 30 per- cent in Utah and 38 percent in Wyoming. Young endangered fish need these wetland habitats for 9rowth and survival. . Nearly 200,000 endangered fish have been stocked in the upper Colorado River Basin in the past 15 years. Because the river habrtat has changed greatly, many of these fish did not survive. Biologists hope to boost the suc- cess rate by changin9 how dams are operat- ed, iimiting stockin9 of non-native fish and reintroducing endangered fish that are genet- icaily as similar to "wiid" fish as possible. . Endangered Colorado squawfish, razorback sucker, bonytail and humpback chub exist in the Colorado River Basin and nowhere else on earth.