Endangered Species Success Story
Proactive partnership approach allows water development in concert with endangered fish recovery on the Colorado River.
LeRoy W. Hooton, Jr.
March 9, 2001
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Congress first passed the Endangered Species Preservation Act in 1966. The Act allowed listing of native animal species as endangered, provided limited means for the protection of species and directed the Departments of Interior, Agriculture and Defense to preserve habitats of those endangered species that fell within each agency's purview. The Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 provides additional protection to species in danger of "worldwide extinction."
The Act was further strengthened with the passage of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. One of the most important additions to the previous acts is contained in Section Seven (7) that requires all Federal agencies undertake programs for the conservation of endangered and threatened species, and prohibits them from authorizing, funding, or carrying out any action that would jeopardize a listed species or destroy or modify its "critical habitat." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service share responsibility for administration of the Act. These agencies can list endangered or threatened species or be petitioned to list endangered or threatened species by states, private groups or individuals.
Section 7 directly affects western federal water projects. According to Clarke, in the 1970s and 1980s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was immersed in conflict regarding interpretation of Section 7. As a result, they were denying water development petitions, which resulted in law suits being filed by water development interests. “All anyone could see were years and years of litigation and millions and millions of dollars dealing with that litigation with no productive resolution, with neither the fish being recovered or protected nor the water developed,” said Clark. This is where Clarke notes that cool minds and visionaries prevailed. In 1988 a partnership was formed with Utah, Wyoming and Colorado joining with the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, environmentalists, along with power users and customers to develop a program to meet both endangered species and water development issues. Named the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program, the group membership relies on total consensus in building trust and finding common ground to resolve issues. Recently, the U.S. Park Service and Colorado River Energy Distributing Association have joined the coalition. The coalition took Section 7 to the next level. Section 7 does not require recovery of an endangered species, but rather just protection of them. This is referred to by Clarke as “an interesting evolution of thinking.”
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"Does the program work? Absolutely," proclaimed Clarke. "Since 1988, the Service has consulted on nearly 600 projects, with the potential depletion of over 600,000 acre-feet of water in the Upper Colorado River Basin. There have been propagamatic biological opinions completed for over 1,000,000 acre-feet." Mitigation measures such as fish ladders, fish stocking and habitat restoration have led to the recovery of endangered species to an extent that it may be possible some day to take some of the fish off the endangered list. The fish are responding and Clarke characterized the program as “the poster child for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service."
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt agrees. In a speech last December in Las Vegas, Nevada to the Colorado River Water Users Association he recognized the success of the group. He lauded the Colorado River Upper Basin Recovery Program in his departing words as he summed up the accomplishments during his watch.
Last year the program got a financial boost from both the federal government and the state of Utah. Congress passed an $80 million bill for the Upper Colorado River and San Juan River Fish Recovery Program. The cost-sharing legislation will funnel $46 million through the Bureau of Reclamation, with the balance funded by the states, partners and power users. Projects to be funded by the legislation include creating fish passageways and irrigation canals, acquiring permanent flood easements along the Colorado River and its tributaries, restoring flood planes, leasing water and controlling predatory fish. Likewise the state legislature appropriated funds for the DWR to support projects and conserve species. Currently DWR has over 10-conservation agreements in place.
During Clarke's reign over DWR, she confessed her change in attitude regarding the endangered species law. She acknowledged that when she first started she was dumbfounded about trying to save fish species in the Colorado River that at one time were considered by DWR as trash fish in its efforts to improve sport fishing. But then she came to grips with the realities, and then acceptance of the program. “Whether we like it or not, the endangered fish in the Colorado River are entitled to the same protection granted the American eagle," she exclaimed. Furthermore, there's a practical side of the issue. "The cost of managing a listed species goes up and flexibility goes down. The best time to deal with a species at risk is before they are ever identified and listed as such," said Clarke.
As the Endangered Species Act goes forward into a new century, there are some thoughts of streamlining it. Others would abolish it. But as Secretary Babbitt said at the Colorado River Water Users meeting, "Don't try it," he warned when he spoke about efforts to get rid of the Endangered Species Act. "The Act has the overwhelming support of the American people..." Regardless of the outcome, the current program to recover endangered species on the Upper Colorado River Basin is enjoying support and measured success.