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<br />3 0 ,.~' <br />, ~~r <br /> <br />The Adobe Creek, Horse Creek and other plains reservoirs attract geese and ducks. Some <br />drawdown of the reservoirs during the months that these birds migrate through the area may actually <br />attract more birds which prefer sandy, beach-like areas (Kubeczko 1989, 32-33). <br /> <br />Lake Fisheries <br /> <br />Numerous aquatic wildlife species, including walleye, wiper, crappie, largemouth bass, white bass, <br />catfish and bluegill, support a strong warm water fishery in the river, creeks and reservoirs in the <br />area (LARC 1992, 7). The Division of Wildlife stocks several reservoirs in the area with walleye, <br />wipers, catfish and other species (Desilet 1993). <br /> <br />Water quality preferred for fishing is IDS of less than 3,000 mgll. Above that level fishery <br />vitality diminishes. At 10,000 mgllIDS and above, little fishery remains (LARC 1992, 28). Bass <br />and walleye are relatively sensitive to water quality, while crappie, wipers and minnows are more <br />tolerant (Krieger 1993). Water quality is an important factor in determining the success of a <br />fishery; poor water quality diminishes fishery capability. <br /> <br />Existing characteristics tending to make the fishery at Adobe Creek and Horse Creek Reservoirs <br />(and other plains reservoirs) suitable include water in the reservoir from a fertile rather than a <br />barren watershed, terrestrial vegetation which contributes debris to the water and allows many <br />nutrients to be leached from the soil into the water, a basin with a gently sloping side, shallow <br />mean depth, and a relatively high water temperature (Kubeczko 1989, 26). <br /> <br />Extreme water level fluctuation due to reservoir drawdown during the irrigation season is the key <br />impediment to a high quality fishery at the reservoirs, as well as low winter water levels in some <br />years. Effects of drawdown include stunting of growth or loss of fish due to the loss of spawning <br />habitat, reduction of food organisms by the damaging of the substrate, loss of riparian vegetation <br />cover, loss of young through the spillway, winterkill, and oxygen depletion (Kubeczko 1989, 32). <br />Some summer drawdown of reservoirs is beneficial to fisheries, allowing revegetation of the <br />shore, which encourages micro-organism growth and spawning habitat in shoreline areas (Desilet <br />1993). <br /> <br />3.10 Wetlands <br /> <br />The seepage and waste runoff from the Fort Lyon canal, its laterals, drains and irrigated lands <br />support a disbursed group of wetland areas. Areas must have these conditions to be classified as <br />wetlands: (1) hydric soil, (2) evidence of hydrophytic vegetation or be capable of supporting <br />hydrophytic vegetation, and (3) the area is inundated (permanently or periodically), or the soil is <br />saturated to the surface during a significant part of the growing season in years of normal <br />precipitation. A wetlands inventory of the study area was conducted using remote sensing <br />techniques by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1972 photography. These data are <br />available on 7.5 minute quadrangle sheets. The data were reviewed for this study, but only at the <br /> <br />3-15 <br />