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United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Fish and Wildlife Service FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMP ACT FISH PASSAGE AT THE GRAND V ALLEY IRRIGATION COMPANY DIVERSION DAM ON THE COLORADO RIVER In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and based on the following, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) have determined that construction and operation of the fish passage at the Grand Valley Irrigation Company (GVIC) Diversion Dam on the Colorado River near Palisade, Colorado would not result in a significant impact on the human environment A draft environmental assessment was prepared on the project in July, 1997 and a final in August, 1997, The fish passage will allow two endangered fish--the Colorado squawfish and the razorback sucker--to move upstream past the GVIC Diversion Dam with the ultimate goal of establishing a reproducing population of the fish in a 54-mile long reach of the Colorado River upstream, To simulate a "natural-like" stream feature, the proposal includes a 30-foot wide notch in the existing GVIC dam to allow the fish to swim upstream through the notch at flows of less than 5,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). Rocks (2-foot diameter) would be placed downstream from the diversion dam in a series of pools and riffles and on a slope designed to reduce velocities significantly to accommodate the swimming abilities of the endangered fishes. The series of 20- foot long pools with intervening riffles about 50 feet long would extend over 400 feet All funding for the construction and operation of the passage would be the responsibility of the Recovery Program for Endangered Fishes in the Upper Colorado River Basin or the Fish and Wildlife Service, The Recovery Program is a cooperative effort among the States of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming; Reclamation, the Service, Western Area Power Administration, water development interests, and environmental organizations with the goal of allowing water development to proceed to meet the needs of society while recovering the endangered fish. Comments on the draft environmental assessment centered around, three general concerns. First, many commentors believe that the proposed action is a waste of taxpayers money; that is the public benefits are far outweighed by the costs. Second, at .the time of the draft assessment, only one endangered fish had used a fish ladder built on the Gunnison River and it was not believed that the GVIC passage would be used by the fish. The third general area of comments was that water users should not have water rights or water uses affected; nor should they be responsible if endangered fish were lost in the GVIC canal; nor should they bear the costs of the construction or operation of the project These concerns have been addressed in detail in the final environmental assessment