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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I Clymer's pond was created in 1995 as a grow-out facility for fish from the 24 Road Hatchery to be raised in until released into the wild. The pond is owned by The Bureau of Reclamation and is located near the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers. The pond was first stocked with razorback suckers from the 24 Road Hatchery in 1996. The pond was drained in September of 1997 and the surviving razorbacks were collected and stocked into the Gunnison and San Juan nvers. METHODS HORSETIDEF REFUGIA PONDS The HorsethiefRefugia Ponds were built in 1992 to address four main objectives: (1) to relieve critical drought impacts on endangered fish, (2) to protect unique genetic resources and maintain recovery options on endangered fish, (3) to evaluate proven methods offish culture and innovative methods on endangered fish, and (4) to accurately record all information from the holding of the refugia fish (Pfeifer and Williams1992). The Horsethief ponds are located in Horsethief SW A, near Fruita Colorado. The facility consists of six ponds (Figure 1); four 0.75-acre ponds and two 0.25-acre ponds. The 0.75-acre ponds have a capacity of2.1 acre feet of water and the 0.25-acre ponds hold 0.6 acre feet of water. There is a spawning shed at the facility which contains a common kettle for collecting fish. All of the ponds can be drained into the kettle which acts as the common drain for the facility. Fish are brought into the kettle for disease treatment and rotation among ponds. Fish are rotated among ponds to allow for a pond to dry out and kill the aquatic vegetation. The spawning shed contains 2 6-ft-diameter and 14 4-ft-diameter circular fiberglass tanks which are used for holding fish in preparation for spawning. A back-up oxygen system is turned on if the power or pump fails while fish are being held in the tanks. A mouse-proof storage room contains feed and other supplies. The Recovery Program has a water right of 2 cfs which is pumped from the nearby Colorado River. The pump for the facility is located approximately 1 mile north east of the ponds and is capable of pumping 1,000 gal/min. Water to each pond is adjusted to 100 gal/min. An aerator runs continuously in each pond to remove nitrogen gas and add oxygen to the water. The ponds and facilities are checked every day. The pump is checked and back flushed if the inflow is reduced because the inlet pipe is clogged with debris. The fish are fed, screens on outlet pipes are checked and cleaned, and ponds are checked for mortalities or moribund fish. All activities are recorded in a daily log. Spawning takes place in the spring when pond water temperature at Horsethief reaches 600 F (160 C). As spawning time nears, fish are handled regularly to check on progress to ripening. When ripening nears, female razorbacks are injected with human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) for 3 consecutive days (Hamman 1985). The males are injected with HCG once or twice, but not on consecutive days. Two days after the final injection the fish are usually ready to spawn. -2-