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. . . I..~ .I; o<t ~':' "... .L .) 5 Within this area of Influence, the South Platte River Is typical of the streams on the plains east of the Rocky Mountains. PeriodIc floods have formed a wide meandering streambed of loose sand and silt. ,The low banks are partially stabilIzed by wIllows, alders, cottonwoods, and other streamsIde vegetatIon. Cutoffs, secondary channels, and Islands spread the water shallowly over a wide bed. The numerous diversion dams have caused repeated low-flow stages In most of the rIver. The rIver Is heavily polluted from the metropolitan areas of Denver, Greeley, and Fort CollIns. Pollution wIll be alleviated wIth construc. tlon of a sewage treatment plant nearIng completIon downstream from Denver at the confluence of Clear Creek and the South Platte River. The South Platte River In the project area offers poor game-fish habItat. Carp, bullheads, suckers, and various species of minnows are present In the river. The poor stream fishery does not attract many fishermen sInce there are several good warmwater fishIng res- ervoirs In the area such as Jackson, North Sterling, and Julesburg ReservoIrs. Fishing In the river Is Insignificant and could be expected to remain so without the project. With the Project Narrows ReservoIr would Inundate about 15.5 miles of the South Platte River and would have about 14,963 surface acres at top of the joint use pool. The mInimum pool would be about 3,631 acres. There Is good fishing In the offstream reservoIrs mentioned above. As Indi- cated below, Narrows Reservoir would not have the good quality habitat of these smaller reservoirs; however, the fishIng would be good. The large annual fluctuations Inherent In Narrows Reservoir and its extensive silt and mud bottom indicates that plant and aquatic Insect productIon would not be great. However, plankton should thrive and food chains based on plankton would become established and support a good warmwater fIshery. Principal game fish would include walleye, northern pike, largemouth bass, white bass, crappies, other sunfishes, and catfish.. Since carp and other nongame fIsh are present In the river, It seems likely that one of the fIshery management problems at Narrows ReservoIr would be the control of nongame fish. Because of Its size and locatIon, Narrows Reservoir could be expected to attract large numbers of fishermen. Approximately 1.5 million people resIde withIn two hours drivIng time of the reservoir. Conse- quently, It Is estimated that with the project fishing on the reservoir would average about 100,000 man-days annually.