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ji~:1I'U'~-C \.(1)~ -VV"--L0~ ,.3 j /9 c;1' x,;"'~~.;Yi',.~J'~~ ':J ~... ..' =\.~~t~ ;ruBES"'" Changes in dam urged for sake of rivers' fish Defense fund wants Flaming Gorge to try more to mimic historical flows. ., Lee Davidson Deseret News Washington correspondent . :: . .... Brent........... . Deseret News stan writer W ASHINGTON-A natiOI18l environmentaJ group says' opera- tion of FlamiDg Gorge Dam in Utah should be changed greatly to help protect endangered fish in the Green and Colorado rivers. The Environmental Defense Fund says the dam should reduce current fluctuations in water dis- charges and try more to mimic his- torical flows that occurred before the dam was built. Of course, that would decrease the amount of peak-time electrical power the dam could produce- which could increase power rates for cities that buy it. It could also affect seasonal downstream water supplies. Thegovennnentp~sUnilar changes at Glen Canyon Dam- but that is to protect the Grand Canyon. The fish that would be protected by changes at Flaming Gorge are considered "trash" fish by critics. The recommendation came Monday as the defense fund re- leased a study saying endangered species in rivers and lakes are much more imperiled than land mammals and birds. It said a third of North American fish are threat- ened, endangered or imperiled, but only 13 percent of mammals and 11 percent of birds are. The report, "The Big Kill," in- cluded 10 case studies on what could be done in some areas to bet- ter help endangered fISh - includ. ing in the Green and Colorado riv- FISH Continued {rom Bl ers to help the Colorado squaw- fISh, humpback chub, bonytail chub and razorback sucker. It said studies say current opera- tiOD of Flaming Gorge dam inter- feres with the mating and migra- tion of those species by changing biStoric:al flow patterns. For e.wnple, it said, "Abrupt fluctuations in surface water ele- vation from late summer to spring are believed to strand squawfish and other backwater species. " It said unnaturally high summer and early autumn flows allowed by reservoir operations also scatter squawfish and make it more diffi- cult for them to mate. The group said, "Flaming Gorge is the key to rehabilitation of the Green as a habitat for these fish. Operating as a peaking power fa- cility, it's the greatest threat to re- covery in this basin. "If changed to something ap- proximating a run-of-the-river fa. cility and thereby replicating the natural hydrograph (or historical flow pattern), the dam could serve as one of the most important fea- tures of the recovery effort." But according to the local office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the dam is not harming the flSh. .The U.S. Bureau of Reclama- tion, at the suggestion of the Fish , and Wildlife Service in November 1992, began altering the water re- . leases in the dam, said Henry Maddux, an endangered fish biolo- gist with the Fish and Wildlife Service. The releases, which are high in the spring and stable in the sum- mer and fall, mimic the natural hydrograph, Maddux said. "At present, the dam is operated to meet the needs of the endan- gered fish. So far, we've seen pretty good results. " The defense fund group said the r~ent changes in the dam's opera- tions should help, but it still COD- siders them "only a f1l'St step." It said that by pre-dam standards, the peak flows will still Dot be very high and the base flows will not be very low.