9313

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9313
• Author: Burdick, B. D., J. Flair, M. Lloyd and B. Scheer.
• Title: Native and Nonnative Fish Use of Two Gravel-Pit Ponds Connected to the Upper Colorado River at 29-5/8 Road Near Grand Junction, Colorado.
• USFW Year: 1997.
• USFW - Doc Type: Project number CAP-6-GP,
• Copyright Material: NO

conditions in permitting by federal agencies involved in reclaiming gravel pits.
Therefore, the purpose of this experiment was to evaluate two different-shaped
ponds, both connected to the river in the same general stream reach, by comparing
seasonal use by native and nonnative fish.
The specific objectives of this study were to:
1. compare seasonal fish use (species composition and relative densities)
of nonnative and native fishes in two ponds adjacent to each other
that are both connected to the river but have different water depths
and bottom configurations,
2. determine the shape of the pond that will benefit endangered and other
native fishes and reduce or eliminate nonnative fish that are believed
to adversely impact endangered fishes, and
3. determine if a gravel-pit pond gently graded toward the mainstem river
will adequately fill during spring high flows and drain during
recession of flows in the summer.
STUDY AREA
Gardner and Hotspot ponds are within 100 yards of each other and are in the
10-year floodplain of the Upper Colorado River between Palisade and Grand
Junction, Colorado ("15-Mile Reach"), at river mile 174.4 (Section 20, Township
1S Range 1E, 6th P.M.: Figure 1). The ponds can be reached by traveling to the
end of Mesa County Road 29-5/8 on the north side of the Colorado River. Gardner
Pond is the larger of the two gravel-pit ponds with a surface area of
approximately 7.4 acres, an average depth of about 5.5 feet, and a maximum depth
of 15 feet (Figure 2). The Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Division
of Parks and Outdoor Recreation (CDPOR), owns the land. Hotspot Pond is
connected to the river, privately owned, and is located immediately north of
Gardner Pond. It has a total surface area of 5.1 acres, an average depth of
about 3 feet, and is connected to the mainstem river. The Grand Junction
Drainage District has an easement to maintain two drainage ditches, one that runs
east of the site and one between the two ponds. Dominant vegetation around these
two ponds consists of Fremont cottonwood (Popu7us fremontii) and tamarisk.
The river reach adjacent to the study site is important historical habitat
for both the razorback sucker and Colorado squawfish. The area has been
identified as occupied habitat and was designated critical habitat for both
razorback sucker and Colorado squawfish by the FWS (effective 20 April 1994;
Federal Register, Vol. 59, No. 54, 21 March 1994) under authority of the
Endangered Species Act (FWS 1973). Various researchers (Holden and Stalnaker
1975: Valdez et al. 1982) documented the historic use of this area by adult
Colorado squawfish and razorback sucker. Osmundson and Kaeding (1989) documented
extensive use of the various habitat complexes in the area by adult Colorado
squawfish that were created following the high water years of 1983 and 1984.
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