In response to court action, Grants Pass Irrigation District (GPID) submitted a habitat conservation plan (HCP) for operations and maintenance of Savage Rapids Dam to provide irrigation water to its customers. On Aug. 21, 2002, NOAA Fisheries Service transmitted an incidental take permit to GPID to authorize incidental take of ESA-listed southern Oregon/northern California coho salmon. This take is associated with irrigation diversion operations at Savage Rapids Dam on the Rogue River, in Josephine and Jackson Counties, Oregon, subject to the provisions of its HCP.

To ensure that the mitigation and minimization strategies are effective, the HCP incorporates a variety of monitoring components, and if needed, adaptive management changes in the conservation measures set forth. NOAA Fisheries Service worked with the irrigation district, Bureau of Reclamation and other parties to extend the incidental take permit through Nov. 1, 2009, so GPID and Reclamation can continue to pursue funding for dam replacement with pumping facilities.