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<br />4 <br /> <br />regularly initially but then less frequently in subsequent years. The RIPSWG has begun <br />more frequent meetings and this Summer is scheduled to submit a draft management plan <br />for the Lower Colorado River Basin to the USFWS Regional Director for the Southwest <br />Region. A Comprehensive Action Plan for humpback chub in Grand Canyon could be <br />wholly incorporated into the management plan that the RIPSWG is at this time <br />developing. <br /> <br />Lower Colorado River Mnlti-Species Conservation Program (LCR-MSCP): The <br />LCR-MSCP was established in response to environmental compliance needs of water and <br />power entities in Arizona, California and Nevada. The LCR-MSCP is working toward <br />the recovery oflisted species, including the razorback sucker, bony tail, and humpback <br />chub, while accommodating current water diversions and power production. In return <br />LCR-MSCP stakeholders are seeking incidental take authorization under the ESA from <br />the USFWS to allow for implementation of covered activities and conservation measures <br />over the next 50 years. The LCR-MSCP planning area encompasses the Colorado River <br />from the Lake Mead full pool elevation of 1229 feet to the Southerly International <br />Boundary with Mexico. At this elevation, the inflow area of the Colorado River is <br />influenced by the reservoir as far upstream as Separation Rapids (River Mile [RM] <br />239.5). This rapids is about 37 river miles upstream of Grand Wash Cliffs [RM 276.5], <br />the western boundary of the GCDAMP, thus there is a geographic overlap between the <br />two programs. LCR-MSCP has tentatively identified the need to support the AMWG <br />program for humpback chub as follows: "Provide $IO,OOO/year for 50 years (total: <br />$500,000) to the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Workgroup to support <br />implementation of planned, but unfunded, species conservation measures and, as <br />appropriate, to fund species conservation measures in the lower canyon of the Colorado <br />River upstream of Lake Mead." <br /> <br />3.0 THREATS TO HUMPBACK CHUB <br /> <br />Threats to humpback chub in Grand Canyon identified by the Ad Hoc Committee, <br />correspond to threats identified in the Humpback Chub Recovery Goals (U.S. Fish and <br />Wildlife Service 2002). Past and/or current threats to the humpback chub in Grand <br />Canyon listed by recovery factor are as follows: <br /> <br />Recovery Factor A.- Adequate Habitat and Range for Recovered Populations <br />Provided <br />I. Habitat affected by streamflow regulation <br />. extreme daily flow fluctuations destabilize habitat, especially for <br />young fish <br />2. Flows necessary for all life stages <br />. high summer/fall base flows inundate juvenile rearing habitat <br />3. Cold water temperature <br />. cold hypolimnetic releases inhibit egg hatching and larval survival <br />. cause thermal shock of fish <50 mm TL descending from <br />seasonally warmed tributaries <br />