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to research on this issue and open public testimony. The RPA contains requirements for minimum flows in the Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam, limitations on ramping rate below Iron Gate Dam, and interagency coordination. The committee finds reasonable scientific support for the suppression of ramping rates as given in the RPA and for coordination. The committee does not find scientific support for the proposed minimum flows as a means of enhancing the maintenance and recovery of the coho population. The proposal of USBR, however, as given in its biological assessment, could result in more extreme suppression of flows than has been seen in the past and cannot be justified. On the whole, there is no convincing scientific justification at present for deviating from flows derived from operational practices in place between 1990 and 2000.

The conclusions of the NRC committee as presented above apply to interim management of the Klamath Project. The committee will make a separate analysis of the scientific evidence, including any new evidence, supporting various actions that might result in improvements in stocks of endangered suckers and coho salmon in the Klamath River Basin over the long term.