My WebLink
|
Help
|
About
|
Sign Out
Home
Browse
Search
7848
CWCB
>
UCREFRP
>
Public
>
7848
Metadata
Thumbnails
Annotations
Entry Properties
Last modified
7/14/2009 5:02:31 PM
Creation date
5/20/2009 10:10:47 AM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
UCREFRP
UCREFRP Catalog Number
7848
Author
Burdick, B. D.
Title
Minimum Flow Recommendation For Passage Of Colorado Squawfish And Razorback Sucker In The 2.3-Mile Reach Of The Lower Gunnison River
USFW Year
1997.
USFW - Doc Type
Redlands Diversion Dam To The Colorado River Confluence.
Copyright Material
NO
There are no annotations on this page.
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015
Laserfiche.
All rights reserved.
/
130
PDF
Print
Pages to print
Enter page numbers and/or page ranges separated by commas. For example, 1,3,5-12.
After downloading, print the document using a PDF reader (e.g. Adobe Reader).
Show annotations
View images
View plain text
276 cfs. A flow of 300 cfs provided at least a maximum 1-foot water depth at <br />these three critical transects when sub-adult and adult Colorado squawfish <br />occupied the reach up- and downstream of the three shallow water areas in late- <br />July and early-August. <br />A minimum "threshold flow" could not be determined using catch rate and <br />flows because a strong positive relationship between the two variables did not <br />exist. Although flows were known on dates of capture, this method did not <br />provide the resolution or accuracy to identify the minimum flow at which <br />endangered and native fishes would leave the reach. For this study, water depth <br />measured during known low flows was the best approach for determining a minimum <br />passage flow. <br />The Oregon State Game Commission (Thompson 1972) suggested that the total <br />width of stream having the specified passage depth should be at least 25% of the <br />top width or that the longest continuous portion be at least 10% of the top <br />width. These recommendations may be somewhat arbitrary but have been widely used <br />and accepted by many fisheries agencies. If these guidelines are applied to the <br />2.3-mile reach and predicted water depths from the HEC - 2 model are used, a 1-foot <br />water depth would be maintained across 10% of channel width at 500 cfs at <br />transect 9 (Appendix; Table G.2.). Similarly, 300-400 cfs would be required at <br />transect 19. Until additional water depth data can be collected at transect 20 <br />to clarify the discrepancy between the empirical and modeled water depths, it is <br />difficult to estimate with certainty the flow necessary for passage using the <br />Oregon guidelines. This study also recommended a minimum passage depth of 0.8 <br />feet for Chinook salmon and 0.6 feet each for Coho, chum, steelhead, and large <br />trout. Although these minimum water depths are recommended for salmonid species, <br />they do provide some starting guidelines for what minimum water depths might be <br />required to pass large, cyprinid fishes such as adult Colorado squawfish. <br />Based on the hydrological and biological data collected to date, a 300 cfs <br />minimum flow is recommended. Furthermore, an instantaneous flow should be <br />maintained rather than a mean daily flow of 300 cfs to eliminate possible daily <br />fluctuations when flows may fall below the recommended minimum. During low-flow <br />periods, a uniform, constant flow of 300 cfs should be reasonable to implement <br />and should be more practical than attempting to implement flows during high-flow <br />periods when flows are rapidly changing. A 300 cfs minimum flow, if required for <br />the entire 123-day period of July through October, accounts for 73,191 AF of the <br />148,000 AF total set aside for endangered fish in the Aspinall Unit. <br />Ideally, minimum flows should be established using habitat preference <br />during summer low flows. This requires obtaining habitat availability and <br />habitat use from Colorado squawfish occupying the reach. As part of the fish <br />passageway evaluation, Colorado squawfish will be radiotagged. Habitat types <br />selected by these fish when occupying the 2.3-mile reach should further verify <br />the water depth and minimum flow necessary for passage. As initial minimum flows <br />are implemented, monitoring and evaluating the response of endangered and other <br />native fishes to these flows is essential to the recovery process. Fine tuning <br />passage flows will be determined from the response of native and endangered fish <br />to various low flows and from other empirical biological data collected during <br />the first few years of operating the fish passageway at Redlands Diversion Dam. <br />j Flow recommendations will no doubt continue to be refined as preliminary <br />34
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.