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DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT <br />Reach 1 McPhee Dam to Bradfield Bridge (12 miles) - This low-gradient <br />reach has a riparian area dominated by narrow-leaf cottonwood, box-elder and <br />willow. The reach is contained within a wide valley bottom, and the channel is <br />characterized by meandering pools-riffle sequences typical of alluvial <br />environments. This reach is well known as the "Catch and Release" area and <br />because of the investment in the Coldwater fishery, has been the focus of base <br />flow management. This entire reach is accessible by gravel road running along <br />the right bank. <br />Reach 2 Bradfield Bridge to Dove Ck Pumps (19 miles) - This reach has a <br />steeper gradient, and channel pattern and structure are controlled by bedrock <br />outcrops and boulders introduced from hillslopes and cliffs above the river. <br />Riparian vegetation is characterized by a Ponderosa Pine woodland with willows <br />and oaks along the stream corridor. This reach is secluded and can only be <br />accessed by hiking in or floating the river. A naturally reproducing brown trout <br />population at about 15 Ibs/ac is sustained without the benefit of re-stocking. <br />Surveys in 2005 suggest that native warm water sucker species (flannelmouth <br />sucker, bluehead sucker) have been nearly eliminated from this reach (CDOW <br />2005). <br />Reach 3 Dove Creek Pumps to Joe Davis Hill (9 miles) - A relatively steep <br />river gradient and a channel confined by steep cliffs and large boulders <br />characterize this reach, with the valley broadening in the downstream direction. <br />A 2-track dirt road on the left bank provides access throughout this reach. <br />Ponderosa pine/ box elder dominate the riparian area with some old cottonwood <br />stands on river terraces. The pine-box elder canopy gives way downstream to <br />willow and sedge-dominated streambanks, with juniper and pinon pine <br />occupying habitat above the active channel. Fifteen (15) years of survey data <br />from a site 1.3 miles from the Dove Creek pumps (upper end of Reach 3) <br />indicate declining populations of native sucker species (flannel-mouth and <br />bluehead), highly variable populations of roundtail chub, and recently increasing <br />populations of non-native green sunfish, notably in 2000-2004. This reach has <br />fewer brown trout w/distance downstream. Desert bighorn sheep utilize <br />stepped cliffs and canyon rims. "Snaggletooth" rapid, a class V run at high <br />water, is the major recreational boating attraction. <br />Reach 4 Joe Davis Hill through Big Gypsum Valley (38 miles) - This reach <br />is fairly flat with anear-stream corridor dominated by sage, rabbitbrush, and <br />greasewood on the upper banks with increasing tamarisk downstream. Riparian <br />areas include fairly dense willow-sedge communities, with increasing presence <br />of phragmites sp. in the downstream direction. Silver buffaloberry, a native <br />shrub, is occasionally dominant through the upper-most reaches. There are <br />large older cottonwoods in places, disconnected from river dynamics. The reach <br />has three distinct sub-reaches: Joe Davis Hill to Disappointment Ck (confined, <br />mainly colluvial and bedrock controls); Disappointment Ck to Big Gypsum Valley <br />(mainly confined, but heavily affected by sediments from Disappointment Creek); <br />and the alluvial reach through the Big Gypsum Valley. The combination of high <br />9/5/06 9 <br />