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quality conditions have changed since construction of'the <br />Aspinal Units, i.e., water temperature, and conditions may be <br />unsuitable for spawning. Conversely, adult squawfish in the <br />Gunnison River may have historically exhibited downstream <br />movement to spawn somewhere in the Colorado River and returned <br />up the Gunnison after spawning, a situation similar to that <br />exhibited by squawfish in the Yampa and White rivers. The number <br />of sub-adult and adult squawfish currently occupying the <br />reaches upstream of Redlands is considered low. If the <br />objective here is to reestablish a "downstream-to-spawn" <br />situation, then it would be necessary to reestablish a Gunnison <br />River squawfish population or stock, which would require using <br />fish from hatcheries or grow-out ponds. These fish would <br />probably be stocked as juveniles upstream of Redlands, as they <br />would need to develop an affinity for the Gunnison, if current <br />hypotheses regarding "homing" are correct. Fish stocked as <br />juveniles may require a minimum of 5 years or more to mature in <br />the Gunnison River, and it would be several years before these <br />fish use a fish passageway at Redlands. <br />4) Fish passage should not be used if it is soley to add habitat that <br />is not currently limiting. If sub-adult and adult habitat is not <br />limiting in reaches currently occupied, simply adding more habitat <br />in other reaches cannot be considered beneficial to the <br />population. The river reach immediately upstream of the Price <br />Stub Dam is an example. Similarily, the use of fish passage would <br />not be advisable to exchange or "trade" adult habitat that may be <br />potentially impacted for other nearby adult habitat, particularly <br />if this habitat is not limiting downstream of the area to be lost <br />or impacted. An example of this is a 15-mile reach of Colorado <br />River near Grand Junction which may be impacted in low-water <br />years. Portions of the Gunnison River upstream of Redlands <br />Diversion have been identified as providing adult habitat for that <br />lost in the 15-mile reach. <br />Barrier Type: High <br />Item <br />1. Consequences: Complete upstream and downstream obstruction, regardless <br />of flow regime <br />2. Solution: <br />1) The cost to construct a fish passageway at a high structure would <br />obviously be high. The cost of a fishway at a high structure <br />could not be appropriately projected even from the design and <br />costs of the proposed fishway at Redlands. Encorporating the <br />design of a fish passageway with the design and construction of a <br />new instream barrier, such at a large dam, would be more <br />desirable, both practically and financially, than retrofitting an <br />existing structure. This philosophy is used in the northwestern <br />and northeastern U. S. In the likelihood that a project gains <br />approval that will create a high barrier, the project proponent <br />14