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<br />RECOVERY AGREEMENT ,,"'~ <br />This RECOVERY AGREEMENT is entered into this ~ day of ~~ri M ~[,t~,~ , by <br />and between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and Snowcap Coal Company <br />(Water User). <br />WHEREAS, in 1988, the Secretary of Interior, the Governors of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, <br />and the Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration signed a Cooperative <br />Agreement to implement the Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in <br />the Upper Colorado River Basin (Recovery Program); and <br />WHEREAS, the Recovery Program is intended to recover the endangered fish while providing <br />for water development in the Upper Basin to proceed in compliance with state law, interstate <br />compacts and the Endangered Species Act; and <br />WHEREAS, the Colorado Water Congress has passed a resolution supporting the Recovery <br />Program; and <br />WHEREAS, on December 20, 1999, the Service issued a programmatic biological opinion (1999 <br />Opinion) concluding that implementation of specified elements of the Recovery Action Plan <br />(Recovery Elements), along with existing and a specified amount of new depletions, are not <br />likely to jeopardize the continued existence of the endangered fish or adversely modify their <br />critical habitat in the Colorado River subbasin within Colorado, exclusive of the Gunnison River <br />• subbasin; and <br />WHEREAS, the 1999 Opinion in the section entitled "Reinitiation Notice" divided depletions <br />into Category 1 or Category 2 for reinitiation purposes; and <br />WHEREAS, Water User is the owner of the Roadside North and South Portals Mine, Pennit C- <br />81-041, (Water Project), which causes or will cause depletions to the Colorado River subbasin <br />within Colorado, exclusive of the Gunnison River subbasin; and <br />WHEREAS, Water User desires certainty that its depletions can occur consistent with section 7 <br />and section 9 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA); and <br />WHEREAS, the Service desires a commitment from Water User to the Recovery Program so <br />that the Program can actually be implemented to recover the endangered fish and to carry out the <br />Recovery Elements. <br />• <br />A11-1-7 <br />