Spring Releases for Endangered Fish a "No Go" This Year

• Year: 2007
• Title: Spring Releases for Endangered Fish a "No Go" This Year
• CWCB Section: Interstate & Federal
• Description: Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program
• Publications - Doc Type: Press Release

~' U pper colorado River
_ Endangered Fish
~:
Robert Muth, Director Recovery Program Mitch King, Chairman
Recovery Program Implementation Committee
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - P.O. Box 25486 -Denver Federal Center -Denver, CO 80225 - (3D3) 969-7322 -Fax (3D3) 969-7327
NEWS RELEASE
June 7, 2007
For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Kara Lamb (970-962-4326)
[e-mail]
Michelle Garrison (303-866-3548)
michelle. garris on@state. co.us
Spring Releases for Endangered Fish a "No Go" This Year
LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- A voluntary river flow program to provide enhanced spring peak flows for endangered fish
will not take effect this year. Operators of Dillon, Green Mountain, Williams Fork, Wolford and Ruedi reservoirs
could not implement the Coordinated Reservoirs Operations program this spring because river flows in western
Colorado did not approach levels where increased flows would benefit the endangered fishes.
The Coordinated Reservoirs Operations Program was established in 1995 as part of the Upper Colorado River
Endangered Fish Recovery Program. Its purpose is to enhance spring peak flows to a section of the Colorado
River upstream of Grand Junction, Colo., without causing flooding. In years when snow pack is above average,
surplus inflows to the five reservoirs can be passed on downstream to benefit two species of endangered fish in the
Colorado River: the Colorado pikeminnow and the razorback sucker.
This spring, most of the basin reservoirs were expected to fill. However, due to warming and then cooling weather,
runoff conditions did not produce the large peaks necessary for Coordinated Reservoir Operations. Despite
increased releases of 1250 cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) from Green Mountain Reservoir and 274 cfs from Wolford
Mountain Reservoir, the naturally occurring river peaks from melting snow could not meet the target threshold of
12,900 cfs in the Colorado River near Grand Junction.
For more information, contact Kara Lamb, Bureau of Reclamation's Eastern Colorado Area Office, at
[phone], [e-mail]; or Michelle Garrison, Colorado Water Conservation Board at [phone],
[e-mail].
The Recovery Pr•ogr•am as a voluntary, cooperative program whose purpose as to r•ecover• the endangered fash~es while water development proceeds an
accordance with federal and state laws and interstate compacts. For• more information, 303-969-7322, ext. 227, or color•ador•iverrecovery.fws.gov.
Colorado River Energy Distributors Association -Colorado Water Congress -National Park Service -State of Colorado
State of Utah -State of Wyoming -The Nature Conservancy -Bureau of Reclamation - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Utah Water Users Association -Western Area Power Administration -Western Resource Advocates -Wyoming Water Association