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<br />2.0 Planning And Development <br /> <br />2-2 <br /> <br />April 2004 <br /> <br />Subbasin. The Recovery Program also identified and negotiated access to numerous floodplain <br />sites on lands administered by State and Federal agencies. <br /> <br />In 1996, a Floodplain Restoration Plan was developed and implemented to remove or <br />breach levees that separated key State and Federal floodplain sites from the main river channel to <br />allow more frequent flooding at lower river levels (Flo Engineering 1996, 1997; Lentsch et al. <br />1996a; Crowl et al. 1998a). By 2001, restoration had occurred at 13 sites in the upper basin, <br />totaling 730-1,815 acres, depending on river stage, including levee breaches at eight sites in the <br />Green River Subbasin, totaling 274 acres at 13,000 cfs. Over a 10-year period, easements to <br />most available key floodplain sites had been acquired, floodplain reconstruction had been <br />initiated with ongoing evaluations, and hatchery propagation was providing fish for field studies <br />of growth and survival and for augmentation of wild stocks (Nelson and Soker 2002). In 2002, <br />the Habitat Enhancement Project entered a new phase of habitat restoration that changed the <br />focus from acquisition and to evaluation, reconstruction, and management. <br /> <br />In January, 2003, the Biology Committee of the Recovery Program identified the need for <br />comprehensive floodplain management plans for the Green River Subbasin and the Upper <br />Colorado River Subbasin. The purpose for these plans was to assimilate and synthesize <br />information from past floodplain restoration activities and to identify objectives and management <br />actions for reaches of each subbasin, as well as for specific floodplain sites. These management <br />plans will be used as guidance for recovery of the razorback sucker, and possibly for the bonytail. <br /> <br />2.2 Plan Development <br /> <br />This Plan was developed at two levels: (a) by priority river reaches within the Green <br />River Subbasin, and (b) by floodplain sites. Priority reaches were determined by integrating <br />information from the Draft Floodplain Habitat Synthesis Report (Nelson and Soker 2002), <br />Research Priorities For Geomorphology Research (LaGory et al. 2003), and a Floodplain Model <br />(Valdez 2004). Role in recovery, objectives, and management actions were identified for each <br />reach. The second level of this Plan was development of objectives and management actions for <br />specific sites that are available to, acquired by, and/or managed by the Recovery Program. Each <br />site description includes: background, role in recovery, and objectives and management actions. <br />Objectives and management actions may differ among sites, depending on geomorphic, <br />hydraulic, hydrologic, chemical, and biological characteristics. Success criteria, uncertainties <br />and risks, research needs, and contingencies are also identified for all sites. <br /> <br />2.3 Role Of Propagation And Augmentation Program <br /> <br />The success of this Plan depends heavily on implementation of the razorback sucker and <br />bonytail propagation and augmentation program (Nesler et al. 2003), and the genetics <br />management plan (Czapla 1999). This program and plan are vital to establishment of sufficient <br />numbers of fish in the wild in order to identify patterns of habitat use, spawning sites, drift and <br />entrainment of wild-produced larvae, and appropriate flow and floodplain management strategies <br />