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• PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Service consulted on existing mining activites at Bear Mine No. 3 in 1985 (Service File Number SE/SLC:6-5-86-F-004). Bear Coal Company made a contribution to the Service for an annual average depletion of 5.3 acre-feet. Bear Coal Company has revised its permit for Bear Mine No. 3 to add a new permit area and coal reserves west of and adjacent to the existing Bear Mine permit area near Somerset, Gunnison County, Colorado. No additional surface disturbance is associated with this revision. Bear Coal Company is projecting to produce 500,000 tons of coal for each of the next 3 years, at which time the mine is scheduled to shut down permanently. The Office of Surface Mining estimates an additional 15.3 acre-feet of water will be depleted from the Upper Colorado River Basin (Upper Basin). BASIS FOR BIOLOGICAL OPINION This biological opinion addresses an average annual depletion of approximately 15.3 acre-feet from the Upper Basin. Water depletions in the Upper Basin have been recognized as a major source of impact to endangered fish species. Continued water withdrawal has restricted the ability of the Colorado River system to produce flow conditions required by various life stages of the fishes. Critical habitat has been designated for the Colorado squawfish, humpback • chub, bonytail, and razorback sucker within the 100-year floodplain in portions of their historic range (59 F.R. 13374). Destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat is defined in 50 CFR 402.02 as a direct or indirect alteration that appreciably diminishes the value of critical habitat for both the survival and recovery of a listed species. In considering the biological basis for proposing critical habitat, the Service focused on the primary physical and biological elements that are essential to the conservation of the species without consideration of land or water ownership or management. The Service has identified water, physical habitat, and biological environment as the primary constituent elements. This includes a quantity of water of sufficient quality that is delivered to a specific location in accordance with a hydrologic regime that is required for the particular life stage for each species. Water depletions reduce the ability of the river system to provide the required water quantity and hydrologic regime necessary for recovery of the fishes. The physical habitat includes areas of the Colorado River system that are inhabited or potentially habitable for use in spawning and feeding, as a nursery, or serve as corridors between these areas. In addition, oxbows, backwaters, and other areas in the 100-year floodplain, when inundated, provide access to spawning, nursery, feeding, and rearing habitats. BIOLOGICAL BACKGROUND Colorado squawfish • The Colorado squawfish evolved as the main predator in the Colorado River system. The diet of Colorado squawfish longer than 3 or 4 inches consists almost entirely of other fishes (Vanicek and Kramer 1969). The Colorado