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 proposed and listed species such as salmon, snails, eagles, bull 

 trout, sturgeon and other resident fish and wildlife and the 

 competing demands for transportation, irrigation, and power in 

 the Basin strain the already over allocated water resources of 

 the region. 



The region needs a coordinated process to ensure the entire river 

 system is operated to meet the needs of both the ecosystem as 

 well as those of river users while working within water 

 availability boundaries established by varizUsle run-off 

 conditions. NMFS participated in an in-season water management 

 process during the 1993 spring and summer salmon migration for 

 listed Snake River salmon with the Corps of Engineers, Bureau of 

 Reclamation, and BPA.. This process coordinated the weekly Snake 

 and lower Columbia River flows as a term and condition of the 

 section 7 process under the ESA. NMFS's recoveiv team has worked 

 to identify river operation actions necessary for the recovery of 

 listed Snake River salmon. These actions, while providing some 

 benefits to non-listed salnonid species, also must accommodate 

 the restoration of other salmonid and resident fish and wildlife 

 species of concern in the Basin. NMFS was pleased to learn that 

 BPA, Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation agreed to 

 consider a system flow and reservoir operations alternative 

 developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, working with 

 states and tribes, in their Systems Operation Review that 

 considers listed species and species of concern throughout the 



