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<br />002538 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />) <br /> <br />LCR MSCP covered spedo:s. Additionaily, alternatives considered, but rejected will be identified and <br />described in the documents. <br /> <br />Defenders of Wildlife vs. Babbitt <br /> <br />On June 4, 2003, United States District Court Judge James Robertson issued an order denying the <br />plaintiffs motion for reconsideration in the lawsuit. As you may recall, this lawsuit involved the <br />Secretary ofthe Interior's management and operation ofthe Lower Colorado River system and facilities <br />and potential impacts to "federally-listed endangered" species and the Colorado River delta in Mexico, <br />In the Court's original decision, the Court detennined that the Secretary and Reclamation had complied <br />with the federal Endangered Species Act and that delivery of water to Mexico was governed by the <br />1944 Water Treaty and was non-discretionary. In the C:ourt's recent order, Judge Robertson reiterated <br />his earlier positions that the Secretary's Interim Surplus Guidelines had no bearing on water deliveries <br />to Mexico, or that the Inadvertent Ovenun and Payback Policy affected deliveries of mainstream water <br />to Mexico. Additionally, the Court stated that the Off-Stream Storage Rule was nothing more than a <br />"framework that the Secretary will utilize in reviewing and evaluating whether to execute a specific <br />transaction for off-stream storage of Colorado River water under a Storage and Interstate Release <br />Agreement." The Court denied the plaintiffs motion for reconsideration. <br /> <br />A copy of the Court's recent order has been included in the Board folder for your infonnation. <br /> <br />Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group <br /> <br />The Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Work Group (AMWG) and Technical Work Group <br />(TWG) recently held a special two-day session in Phoenix, Arizona, to discuss proposed conservation <br />strategies for the federally-endangered humpback chub populations in the mainstream Colorado River <br />below Glen Canyon Dam, The Humpback Chub Ad Hoc Group developed a technical white paper <br />which addressed potential mechanisms and strategies for safe-guarding these populations and <br />preserving the species' genetic diversity. Generally, the options include a combination ofthe following: <br />(I) remove the endangered fish from the riverine environment and protect them in isolated refugia (e.g" <br />hatchery facilities); (2) implement aggressive non-native fishes control procedures to reduce non-native <br />interactions with existing humpback chub populations; (3) reoperation of Glen Canyon Dam to benefit <br />native endangered fishes and reduce impacts and effects of the non-native aquatic species (i.e., <br />temperature control, and reproduction of the historic hydrograph, etc,); and (4) reintroduction of <br />humpback chub in other reaches of the mainstream in order to create additional populations that may <br />survive in the face of the non-native predator-prey interactions or other stochastic catastrophic events. <br />The AMWG has still not detennined the appropriate preferred course of action. It will reconsider this <br />issue at its next meeting in mid-August 2003. <br /> <br />9 <br />