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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />FIVB-YBAR FLAMING GORGE FLOW RECOMKEHDATIONS INVESTIGATION <br /> <br />LEAD AGBHCIBS: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BR) and U.S. Fish and <br />Wildlife Service (FWS) <br /> <br />COOPERATING AGENCIES: <br />Colorado Division of wildlife (CDOW), Utah Division of <br />wildlife Resources (UDWR), and Larval Fish Laboratory (LFL), <br />Colorado state University <br /> <br />RBLATIONSHIP TO RBCOVERY PROGRAM: <br />Operation of Flaming Gorge Dam continues to be a high <br />priority for recovery of the Upper Colorado River Basin <br />endangered fishes. Studies recently completed in preparation <br />of a Biological opinion for operation of Flaming Gorge <br />provided the basis for seasonal flow recommendations to <br />enhance the native-fish assemblage. Recommendations were <br />based on information presented in the Consolidated Biology and <br />Hydrology reports for spring, summer/fall, and winter periods. <br />Recommendations for each period were based on different levels <br />or amounts of biological information, with the most long-term <br />data presented for the summer/fall period. Because operation <br />of Flaming Gorge Dam is critical to the protection and <br />enhancement of native fishes and because recommendations did <br />not specifically address potential affects on non-native <br />fishes, BR and FWS are requesting that additional studies be <br />conducted. <br /> <br />GENERAL SCOPE OF THE INVESTIGATION AND HYPOTHESES: <br />At a Technical Group meeting of the Recovery <br />Implementation Program (RIP), BR and FWS recommended that <br />additional studies be conducted to assess effects of operation <br />of Flaming Gorge Dam on fishes in the Green River system. <br />Proposed studies would specifically address seasonal flow <br />recommendations developed for the Biological Opinion by FWS. <br />It was the opinion of BR and FWS, and was generally agreed to <br />by members of the Technical Group, that specific studies need <br />to be designed and conducted to refine the seasonal flow <br />recommendations for the spring, summer/fall, and winter <br />periods. <br />BR submitted a proposal that called for a cooperative- <br />agency approach to accomplish the five-year research effort. <br />Goals of the Flaming Gorge studies are to collect information <br />that would be used to refine and further support <br />recommendations made in the Consolidated Reports. studies <br />would be integrated and designed to track biological responses <br />to the specific flow recommendations throughout the entire <br />Green River basin. Data would be collected following a more <br />"systems-oriented" approach with BR and FWS coordinating <br />annual efforts. study area includes the Green River <br />downstream of Flaming Gorge Dam and the Yampa River. The end <br />products would be more refined and biologically based flow <br />recommendations that could be implemented through the NEPA <br />process. <br />