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OOQ523 reason, Ruedi would continue to operate to store water and limit releases during 2003. If 2003 inflow is similar to 2002 inflow, Ruedi would be expected to be below 51,800 AF for all of the summer season. Boats that require a boat ramp to launch would be unable to use the reservoir during 2003. Flow in the Fryingpan River would be expected to be lower than average and at times would only be the minimum releases especially during early summer. In late summer 2003, endangered fish releases would be expected to increase flows in the Fryingpan River but would most likely be below 250 cfs. Net Effects Fryingpan River flow would be higher for the rest of the summer and into early fall under the Proposed Action. Ruedi storage content would drop faster and remain lower through the winter when compared to No Action. Flows in the 15 Mile Reach are likely to be minimally improved through greater return flows and possibly administrative spills. Contents in Ruedi Reservoir during Water Year 2003 would be approximately 10,000 acre-feet less than underNo Action. Beyond 2003, contents and the rate of releases are likely to be driven more by natural hydrology than the Proposed Action. AQUA TIC WILDLIFE This section includes both sport fish and threatened and endangered fish species in the reservoir and in the rivers below Ruedi Reservoir. Affected Environment Sport Fish. The Fryingpan River between Ruedi Dam and the Roaring Fork River is designated Gold Medal Water by the Colorado Division of Wildlife where anglers have the best chance of catching trophy trout. Brown and rainbow trout are distributed throughout this part of the river, along with smaller populations of brook and Colorado River cutthroat trout. Brown trout populations have dominated this segment of the Fryingpan for several years, increasing in numbers dramatically throughout the late 1980's and remained fairly steady with a slight increase through the 1990' s (Colorado Division of Wildlife, 2000). At one time, the river hosted significantly higher populations of rainbow and brook trout than are found in the river now. No studies have been done on this hypothesis but indications are that brown trout predation on the young is part of the explanation for population drops of other trout species (Colorado Division of Wildlife, 2000). Other factors such as the undesirable river temperatures during the spring rainbow trout egg incubation may also have an impact. Rainbow trout populations appeared to be rising through the 1970's but then dropped in the early 1980's. A stocking program began in 1982, and their numbers increased until they hit record highs in the late 1980's but dropped off significantly again in the early 1990's and have remained relatively steady since that time (Colorado Division of Wildlife, 2000). Rainbow trout stocking slowed in the late 1980' s, and, since 1992, has occurred only once (in 1998). Even without stocking,.the Fryingpan River supports some of the highest fish populations in Colorado. Brown trout populations have been fairly constant at about 1,500 fish/ha (fish per hectare) since 1992, and rainbow trout populations averaged about 300 fish/ha from 1992 to 1996 (Strange, 1998). Whirling disease has been detected in the Fryingpan River since 1995; however, effects have only been observed in rainbow trout populations. The disease is most prevalent in lower reaches of the river, where the source has been identified in private ponds that spill into the Fryingpan (Colorado Division of Wildlife, 2000). 13