WSP11214

• File Number: 8200.776
• Description: Uncompahgre River General
• State: CO
• Basin: Gunnison
• Water Division: 4
• Date: 1/1/1983
• Author: West Slope Hydro Par
• Title: Before the United States of America Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - Application for License for Major Project - Uncompahgre Valley Hydroelectric Project Number 2
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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Fist1erv:

The endangered Colorado squawfish,

humpback chub, and bony-

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tail

chub are native to the Colorado River drainage,

but

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critical habitat for these fish has not been established. In

the last decade, the squawfish has been recorded in the Gun-

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nison River downstream from Delta.

The only identified

population of the humpback chub in the State of Colorado was

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near the Colorado-Utah border.

The bony tail chub has

not

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been reported in the Gunnison River or the mainstream of the

Colorado River for many years.

In a~dition to

the above

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species, the razorback sucker is considered to be threatened
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or endangered by the State of Colora~o.

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J. Land Use and Ownershio

Agriculture

is of primary im~ortance to the economy of

the

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local area.

Historically,

the irrigated lan~s have

been

use~ for the production of cash crops such as

beans,

corn,

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onions,

and

fruit,

and

livestock feeds such as alfalfa,

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meadow hay,

pasture,

and slLall grains.

The total value of

crops produced on Uncompahgre Project lands

in

1979 was

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about

$17,581,000.

These crops and fee~s are used in con-

junctio~ with adjacent summer range en public land to sup-

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,

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port a basic livestock economy.

Livestock typically graze

the irrigated fields i~ fall and winter after returning from

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high elevation rangeland.
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used for grazing.

Also, some nonirrigated areas are

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