The Upper Colorado Region is responsible for managing and protecting water and associated resources including project facilities, endangered species, and many other environmental considerations. As drought continues to persist in the Upper Colorado Region and throughout the West, the challenge of fulfilling this responsibility increases, making wise management of our finite water resources imperative. Part of the Upper Colorado Region's role in addressing these challenges is to bring competing interests together to find consensus-based approaches to the contemporary water challenges in the West.
Reclamation's Provo Area Office plays an important role in making this happen. The Provo Area Office has oversight responsibility for the operation and maintenance of facilities associated with the 17 water projects within their jurisdiction. Environmental issues associated with these projects, such as the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Operation of Flaming Gorge Dam, are also handled by the Provo Area Office. The Flaming Gorge EIS was done to analyze the dam's operation to meet the flow and temperature recommendations issued by the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program in September 2000.