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/ . ~)!) "I ., , t ~e,: y:~~ Biologists ~ay project will push fish to limit By Electa Draper Deo.erF>ostSUtlWnter If the water projttt known as Ani- mas-La Plata Lite is buill, endangered fish could not tolerate any additional water development in the San Juan River Basin, fish biologists warn. The numbers report. ed Friday at a water seminar in Durango C1luld binder if not halt development of water rights held by the Na. vajo Nation and othen; in the basin, said Steve Harris,pres.ident of the Animas-La Plata Wa- ter Conservancy Dis. trict. But first the reo search must withstand outside scientific scru- tiny and the onslaught of criticism expected from water develop- ment lnterests. The fish biologists and other scientists of the San Juan River Re-. covery Implementa. tion Program last week released their draft numben; on bow low the San Juan can go before jeoparditing 5W'Vival of the endangered Colorado squawfish and razorback sucker. The findings came after 5e\'en years of study of an ecosystem altered decades ago by the construction of Na- vajo Dam at one end and Glen Canyon Dam at the other. vive the bloodletting arena of waler-de- velopment politics, the biologists say. The San Juan River's two endangered fisb species had enough clout to freeze Animas-La Plata in its tracks at the be- melting snow in spring. High flows reear...e the river channel, creating pools, backwaters and eddies that serve as nurseries for native fish. High nows scour the riverbed and make S clean, loose cobble good for spawning. But Harris and other critics of the biologists' work say that too much information is missing about critical life stages of the endanger-! ed fish because there weren"tenough fish left in the river to study. ; Biologists in the past' _ few years resorted to ,,/ stocking endangered'" species raised in batcb- I eries, but even they ad-I mit they have gaps in the data. I The latest incarna- I tion of tbe long-plan-I ned Animas-La Plata'l oow one-third its origi. nal size, theoretically would accommodate I the fisb because It would deplete only n.c.-Poll 57,100 acre-feet of wa- ter a year from the Animas River at a diversion point just south of Durango. The .....ater then would be pumped over a hill [oto Ridges Basin Reservoir just % miles south of town. I Tbe project would benefit the two I Colorado Ute tribes and communities such as Durango and Farmington, N.M._ I Project area of Animas. La Plata The Anlmas.La Plaia prOjeCt was modified in order 10 prolec1 endangered fiSh in the San Juan River Basin. , , , if .' y.cI' " . " :. " Ridges Basin Reservoir , . , ~ ~ J A long way to go Harris said he is highly skeptical that biological data exist to justify the draft findings made by the San Juan pro- gram's biology committee. The committee's dozen or 50 re- searchers represent four states, tllree tribes and balf a dozen federal agencies. They are scheduled to meet again in late May to make nnal recommenda. tions. Then, the committee's recom. mended dam releases and river flows would bave to pass muster with f-he pro- gram's coordination committee and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The rec- ommendations also would have to sur. " ~ ;0 Co~. :1 . .' Southern Ute Indian Reservation COLORADO ginning of the decade wben Fish and Wildlife issued an opinion saying the project would place the r1Sh in jeopardy. . Then, a bevy of agencies. including Fish and Wildlife and the would-be builder of Animas-La Plata, the Bureau of Reclamation, formulated "a reason. able and prudent alternative" to elimi- nating either the project or the f1Sh. Thus was born the San Juan River Re-. CQvery and Implementation Program, with its dual mission of protecting rare native fish and allowing limited water development to procffd. The cap then seton that water devel. opment was a 51,700-acre-foot deple- tion of the Animas River, a tributary of the San Juan. And officials planned to release water from the :"Oavajo Dam reservoir in southern Colorado and northern :'-Oew ~el.ico to augment San Juan River flows when ne<eded to bene- fit the rare native fish. The fisb, biologists say, need;Pows that would mimic Datura! or pre-dam flows - a variety of highs and lows, in. c1uding a great, flusbing stream of Perhaps the last hurrah " _u_ __..__._.._..-. _"_"_"_~y__' ::'~;;..;.r.\,.. i~NEW'MEXICO. ~J '>- ,....~~:tf'1.~...,~..~t$jr.i. If the scientists' preliminary recom- mendations for San Juan nows stand, A- LP Lite would be the last burrah of wa- ter development in the basin. The num- bers now show that river depletions above 59,000 acre-feet would make it difficult to guarantee the t).pes and fre- 1 quencies of flows needed to sculpt en. dangered fish habitat, said San Juan' program biology committee cbairman : Ron Bliesner, an agricultural engineer. ! However, there are projects ill the: planning, including completion of the! Navajo Indian Irrigation Projkt. that would take more than 200,000 acre-feet " Please see W A TEA on 68 1