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<br />.c <br />c:) <br />-, <br /> <br />8 <br /> <br />',' <br /> <br />affect any such claims. <br /> <br />... <br />w <br /> <br />The Implementation Program is intended to provide the means for <br />conserving the listed fish in the Basin while water development <br />proceeds consistent with applicable laws. The order in which <br />water development occurs may not necessarily reflect the priority <br />of the water rights. Therefore, the successful development of <br />any water project in accordance with the program does not create <br />a water right for project beneficiaries or its contractors to the <br />use of water greater or lesser than those to which the project <br />beneficiaries or contractors would otherwise be entitled, nor <br />shall such development of a project adversely affect the water <br />rights of any other water users or water right holders in the <br />Basin. <br /> <br />1.8 COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT (Contingent upon the execution of the <br />agreement) <br /> <br />The secretary of the Interior, on behalf of the U.s. Fish and <br />wildlife service (Regions 2 and 6), U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, <br />and U.s. Bureau of Indian Affairs; the Governors of Utah, <br />Colorado and New Mexico; the Navajo Nation, and the Southern Ute, <br />ute Mountain ute, Jicarilla Apache Indian Tribes have executed a <br />Cooperative Agreement to carry out the San Juan Basin <br />Implementation Program. The Agreement incorporates the terms, <br />objectives, and undertakings of this Implementation Program and <br />commits each party to its timely implementation. The Cooperative <br />Agreement has been executed under statutory authority of the <br />Endangered Species Act and other appropriate state, federal, and <br />Tribal laws. <br /> <br />1.9 RELATIONSHIP OF RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM TO SAN JUAN <br />RIVER RESEARCH PLAN <br /> <br />In accepting the reasonable and prudent alternatives provided in <br />the October 25, 1991, Biological opinion issued by Region 6 of <br />the Service on the Animas-La plata Project, the Bureau of <br />Reclamation agreed to fund approximately 7 years of research on <br />the San Juan River and its tributaries with emphasis on observing <br />a biological response in the endangered fish population and <br />habitat conditions. As stated in the Biological Opinion, this <br />research "will be conducted by knowledgeable endangered species <br />and habitat experts and will allow for testing of hypotheses. <br />The ultimate goal of this research is to characterize those <br />factors which limit native fish populations in the San Juan River <br />and to provide management options to conserve and restore the <br />endangered fish community. Approval for study design shall <br />jointly rest with the Service and Reclamation." It was also set <br />forth as the intent of the Biological Opinion that funding of the <br />