This biological assessment includes the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD), and the State of New Mexico (State) water management actions taken in the Middle Rio Grande (MRG), as well as State actions in the Upper Rio Grande in New Mexico. The BA also includes Reclamation’s River and Infrastructure Maintenance and Restoration Program, other Reclamation MRG Project maintenance actions, and the MRGCD’s and State’s proposed maintenance actions. In addition, the BA provides descriptions of specific Offsetting and Conservation Measures, proposed by Reclamation, BIA, the MRGCD, and the State, including establishment of a Recovery Implementation Program (RIP).

The information presented in this BA is divided into five parts. Parts I, II, and III contain amended and updated information added to previous BA submittals to the Service (July 31, 2012, January 15, 2013, and August 8, 2013). This BA now includes information pertaining to two recently listed species—the cuckoo and the jumping mouse—and their proposed critical habitats. The five parts of this BA are as follows:

• Part I: Introduction, Action Area, and foundational information that applies for all Proposed Actions, including Species Description, the Environmental Baseline, and Cumulative Effects.
• Part II: Reclamation’s, BIA’s, MRGCD’s, and the State’s specifically described water management Proposed Actions and their anticipated effects on listed species and designated/proposed critical habitat.
• Part III: Reclamation’s River and Infrastructure Maintenance and Restoration Program performed in cooperation with the State, the State’s habitat restoration activities, Reclamation’s maintenance activities on riverside drains, and MRGCD maintenance actions on diversion structures and riverside delivery systems. A programmatic description of these Proposed Actions and their anticipated effects on listed species and designated/proposed critical habitat is included, along with best management practices (BMPs) used for such activities.
• Part IV: Reclamation’s, BIA’s, MRGCD’s, and the State’s proposed measures to offset adverse effects of the Proposed Actions and provide conservation benefits for listed species and critical habitat. These include measures to minimize and/or avoid anticipated adverse effects of the Proposed Actions on the silvery minnow (defined in this BA as Offsetting Measures). Also included are measures that address multiple species and river system considerations beyond those needed to minimize or avoid anticipated adverse effects of the Proposed Actions (defined in this BA as Conservation Measures).
• Part V: The overall determination of effects to ESA-listed species, as required by section 7, and various procedural considerations related to this consultation, including a framework for streamlined compliance, clarification on the proposed timeframe for the BA/Biological Opinion (BO), and the role of the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program (Collaborative Program) RIP.