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137, 139, and 151) were within 4 miles (RM 229.2-225.0) of each other, and three fish (Codes <br />147, 152, and 156) were within 1.3 miles (RM 222.0-220.7) of each other. However, five of these <br />fish (Codes 137, 140, 151, 152, and 156) dispersed downstream shortly thereafter and it is <br />uncertain if this was a "pre-spawning congregation." No other aggregations ofradio-tagged <br />Colorado pdceminnow were detected in the river during the remainder of the study. The individual <br />contacts and movements during 2001 and 2002 for the 19 adult Colorado pikeminnow radio <br />tagged in 2001 aze provided in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8. <br />Some of the most revealing information documented during this study was the movement <br />of several radio-tagged Colorado pikeminnow into two irrigation canal systems that divert water <br />from the Colorado River. The Government Highline Canal is presently unscreened and, therefore, <br />fish had free access to the canal throughout this study. The GVIC Canal was unscreened until <br />Apri12002. Of 10 Colorado pikeminnow radio-tagged in 2001 that moved downstream to the <br />Government Highline Dam during 2001, five entered the canal system, whereas the other five <br />continued downstream over the dam (Appendix E). During this period when the five Colorado <br />pikeminnow entered the canal, approximately 70% of the flow volume of the Colorado River was <br />being diverted into the canal (personal communication, Bob Norman, Bureau of Reclamation, <br />Grand Junction). Two of the five that entered the canal were detected moving up-canal (Codes 78 <br />[0.5 mile] and 154 [0.1 mile]) during tracking. <br />The five fish that passed over the diversion dam in 2001 remained an average of 18 days <br />(8-23 days) upstream from the diversion dam following stocking compared to 27 days (20-82 <br />days) for the five fish that entered the canal (Table 2). Downstream movement ofradio-tagged <br />fish either over the Government Highline Dam or into the canal occurred between 24 May and 11 <br />August of 2001. Nine of these fish (Codes 78, 137, 138,143, 145,146,153,154, and 155) <br />moved downstream between 24 May and 11 July, the period which corresponded with spawning <br />for this species (see Figure 9; Appendix F). The average TL of Colorado pdceminnow that moved <br />downstream over the Government Highline Dam in 2001 and into the canal was 631 mm (n=10; <br />range=529-741 mm). This length was essentially identical and was not statistically different (t- <br />statistic=0.11, F=0.915, df17) than the size of the nine Colorado p~eminnow that remained <br />upstream of the diversion dam (mean TL=634 mm; range of 550-727 mm). If a mix of smaller <br />adult Colorado p~lceminnow (e.g., 450-500 mm) could have been captured, radio tagged, and <br />relocated during this study along with larger adult fish (> 500 mm), we could have tested the <br />hypothesis that smaller Colorado pikeminnow would have remained in the upstream reaches where <br />they were released and were better suited to establish residency than ]anger fish. <br />23 <br />