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likelihood of jeopardy and/or adverse modification of critical habitat for such depletion <br />impacts. If the Recovery Program can avoid the likelihood of jeopazdyand/or adverse <br />modification of critical habitat no additional recovery actions for individual projects <br />would be required, if the avoidance actions are already included in the Recovery Action <br />Plan. If the Recovery Program is not likely to avoid the likelihood of jeopardy and/or <br />• adverse modification of critical habitat then the Service will reinitiate consultation and <br />develop reasonable and prudent alternatives. <br />For purposes of any future reinitiation of consultation, depletions have been divided into two <br />categories. <br />Cateeorv ]: <br />a) existing depletions, both Federal and non-Federal as described in the project <br />description, from the Upper Colorado River Basin above the confluence with the <br />Gunnison River that had actually occurred on or before September 30,1995 <br />(average annual depletion of approximately 1 million acre-feet/yeaz); <br />b) depletions associated with the tota1.154,645 acre-feet/yeaz volume of Green <br />Mountain Reservoir, including power pool (which includes but is not limited to <br />all of the 20,000 acre-feet contract pool and historic user's pool), the Colorado <br />Big-Thompson replacement pool; and <br />c) depletions associated with Ruedi Reservoir including Round 1 sales of 7,850 <br />• acre-feet, Round II sales of 6,135 acre-feet/yeaz as discussed in the Service's <br />biological opinion to Reclamation dated May 26, 1995, and as amended on <br />January 6, 1999, and the Fryingpan Arkansas Project replacement pool as <br />governed by the operating principles for Ruedi Reservoir but excluding 21,650 <br />acre-feet of the marketable yield. <br />Category 1 depletions shall remain as Category 1 depletions regazdless of any subsequent <br />change, exchange, or abandonment of the water rights resulting in such depletions. <br />Category 1 depletions associated with existing facilities may be transferred to other <br />facilities and remain in Category l so long as there is no increase in the amount of total <br />depletions attributable to existing depletions. However, section 7 consultation is still <br />required for Category 1 depletion projects when a new Federal action occurs which may <br />affect endangered species except as provided by the criteria established for individual <br />consultation under the umbrella of the Colorado River PBO. Reinitiation of this <br />consultation will be required if the water users fail to provide 10,825 acre-feedyeaz on a <br />permanent basis. <br />Cateeory 2: <br />Category 2 is defined as all new depletions up to 120,000 acre-feetlyear, this includes all <br />depletions not included in Category 1 that occur after 1995 regazdless of whether section <br />7 consultation has been completed. This category is further divided into two 60,000 acre- <br />. feetlyear blocks of depletions. . <br />Al 1-1-4 <br />.,~~ ._ .p <br />