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.. -,~' -1' ..... ",\ P.- i' I:' j '''I :!', uu.....v,,,v CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION PROPOSED ACTION The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program) is proposing to construct a fish screen in the Red1ands Power Canal southwest of the city of Grand Junction, in Mesa County, Colorado (Frontispiece Map). The Red1ands Power Canal transports water diverted from the Gunnison River by the Redlands Diversion Dam. The fish screen would return fish that enter the Red1ands Power Canal to the Gunnison River downstream of the Red1ands Diversion Dam. NEED FOR AND PURPOSE OF ACTION This draft environmental assessment (EA) evaluates the effects on the human environment from constructing and operating a fish screen in the Redlands Power Canal. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) prepared this EA in cooperation with other federal and state agencies to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act, and related U.S. Department of the Interior policies and regulations. If, based on this analysis, Reclamation concludes the proposed action would have no significant impact on the human environment; preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement would not be required before the action could be implemented. UPPER COLORADO RIVER ENDANGERED FISHES RECOVERY PROGRAM In 1988, the Governors of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming; the Secretary of the Interior; and the Administrator of Western Area Power Administration entered into a cooperative agreement to initiate the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program. The Recovery Program is an interagency partnership created to recover the endangered Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), humpback chub (Gila cypha) and bonytai1 (Gila elegans). Recovery Program elements include: . Habitat management including identifying and acquiring instream flows, changing operations of Federal dams, and operating other reservoirs in a coordinated manner to benefit endangered fish. Habitat development including restoring floodplain/wetland habitats, constructing fish passageways around dams and other barriers in the river, and constructing fish screens in major canal diversions. Native fish propagation and genetic management involving establishing facilities to hold 1 . .