Final Programmatic Biological Opinion for Bureau of Reclamation's

The 120,000 acre-feet/year of new depletions represents the amount of additional Reclamationand non-Reclamation water that the Service believes could be depleted from the Upper ColoradoRiver Basin above the confluence with the Gunnison River using new or existing facilities(including depletions that have already occurred since September 1995) and not result in thelikelihood of jeopardy or adverse modification of critical habitat so long as the recovery actionsare implemented as described herein.The 120,000 acre-feet/year depletion includes non-Reclamation projects and/or facilities that havecurrent biological opinions but have not yet depleted the full amount covered by those biologicalopinions and water that could be depleted in the near future from facilities without a currentFederal nexus. However, non-Reclamation facilities are treated as interrelated because of thelikelihood that they will have a Federal nexus at some future point and want to rely on theRecovery Program to avoid the likelihood of jeopardy and adverse modification of critical habitat.The Federal nexus will likely come in the form of facility repairs requiring Army Corps ofEngineers permits, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing, Federal agencyauthorization of right-of-ways, or some other Federal involvement. This 120,000 acre-footreduction in flows is expected to have the same effect on endangered fish and their critical habitatif removed by existing or new projects. However, we cannot make a judgement on exactly wherethis 120,000 acre-feet/year of depletion will come from and anticipate that some of it will comefrom facilities that have yet to be constructed.In recognition of the extreme variability of hydrology and water use demand patterns, the 120,000acre-feet of new depletions will be calculated as a 10 year moving average as determined by theColorado Water Conservation Board in consultation with Reclamation and concurred with by theService (Appendix B).The following elements of the Recovery Action Plan are measures completed, ongoing, or futureactions which are part of the action subject to this consultation. As part of the action, thebeneficial effects of these recovery actions are taken into consideration in the jeopardy andincidental take analysis. It is the Recovery Program’s responsibility to ensure that all elements ofthe Recovery Action Plan affecting the Colorado River and other rivers are completed and/orimplemented consistent with Recovery Program schedules (contained in the April, 1999, “Section7 Consultation, Sufficient Progress, and Historic Projects Agreement and Recovery Action Plan”and subsequent revisions).The following elements of the Recovery Action Plan address the biological and habitat needs ofthe endangered fishes, each element involves several recovery actions. These needs are describedin the “Status of the Species and Critical Habitat” section of this document.7