8192

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8192
• Author: Wydoski, D.
• Title: Review of Report Regarding Evaluation of Gravel-Pit Ponds.
• USFW Year: 1997.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

Hotspot Pond is owned by the Colorado Division of Parks and Outdoor
Recreat ion. Mr. C. W. Van Wagner, owner of the rema i nder of the
property, should be contacted to determine if this property could be
acqui red by or donated to the Recovery Program. Pi ckup Pond is
located directly north of the 153-acre parcel of land which was
acqui red by the Recovery Program in 1996 to preserve habi tat for
endangered fish and other types of wildlife. The Colorado Department
of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, will
assume ownershi p of Pi ckup Pond from Mesa County. The Recovery
Program should develop a Memorandum of Understanding with the State of
Colorado to use Pickup Pond in recovery activities for endangered
fish. Any endangered fish recovery activities will have to be
compatible with the Mesa County Riverfront Commission because a trail
easement is located on the north bank of Pickup Pond.

These two former gravel-pits, presently connected to the mainstem
Colorado River, are important floodplain habitats that are used during
spring runoff by adult Colorado squawfish. Presently, these ponds do
not drain entirely following runoff and retain water. Thus, while
used by endangered fish during runoff, if left contoured as the ponds
presently are, they will continue to provide perennial havens for
nonnative fishes. Recontouring and reshaping the bottom of these two
ponds will allow seasonal flooding and draining that will eliminate
perennial habitat for nonnative fishes and maintain floodplain habitat
that can be used during the spring and early summer for sub-adult and
adult Colorado squawfish. If acquisition of floodplain areas is not
possible, the Recovery Program should explore entering into agreements
with the Mesa County Riverfront Legacy Project that examines broad-
range management for multiple uses.

6. . Use Deeper Depression Ponds as Grow-Out Ponds for Captive-Rearing of
Endangered Fishes. If practical, such ponds should be drained and the
bottoms sloped so that seining or trap nets could be used to
concentrate and harvest captive-reared fish for stocking. Grow-out
ponds provide a "half-way house" for captive-reared razorback sucker
juveniles from the hatchery-pond environment where they are reared as
family lots until they can be PIT-tagged and are stocked into the
river. In hatchery ponds, the larvae and juveniles feed strictly on
zooplankton whereas, in grow-out ponds, they become acquainted with
macroinvertebrates so that they may become better foragers following
stocking. These grow-out ponds should not be connected to the river
by a surface channel or underground outlet pipe, should be predator-
free, and secure from flooding to prevent premature escape of
endangered fi sh into ri ver . Vi rgi ni a Acres Pond. i mmedi ate 1 y north of
Pickup Pond, is one such pond that is currently being screened by the
Recovery Program to determine if it can be used as a grow-out pond for
juvenile razorback sucker.

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