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56 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I much much harder to run a trip. Beaches that appear to be good campsites can become submerged overnight as the river rises. Conversely, boats moored during high water can be found the next morning stranded on the beach or rocks, far from the water's edge. Reports of boats being stranded rise from near zero at steady flows to over 13 percent of boaters interviewed during fluctuations. During fluctuating flows, private boaters and commercial guides must choose campsites and moorings very carefully and sometimes have to move boats several times during the night. Trips must be planned carefully to reach critical rapids during fa- vorable water, and delays and crowding at these rapids are common. As a point of comparison, the white-water recreation benefits for a typical low-water year are increased by about $0.8 million by removing fluctuating releases. (See Appendix C, Section III.) Although fluctuations do not have a long-term effect on future recreational opportunities, the immediate reduction in the quality of white-water boating trips is in a sense irreversible for the individual because these trips are most often a "once in a life-time" ex- perience. Most river runners will not have another chance to take a better quality trip. This applies to a lesser extent to trout fishing, because most anglers visit Glen Canyon several times a year. Trout fishina. At Glen Canyon, large fluctuations create very low and high water, both of which are undesirable for fishermen. Falling water can make it difficult to get downstream over rocks and sandbars that were submerged on the trip upriver. Although the data are not conclusive, rising water may increase the likelihood of swamping boats that are anchored in the main current or to shore. A few anglers favor fluctuating flows because they believe that rising water may stimulate feeding by fish. Nevertheless, the majority of anglers feel that the disadvantages of fluctuations outweigh the advantages. The only exception is that fluctuations are preferred to steady flows of less than 5,000 cfs. For a typical low-water year, conversion from fluctuating to steady releases increases recreation benefits from fishing by about $0.2 million. (See Appendix C, section III.) Trout. The loss of adult and juvenile fishes by stranding during fluctuating releases is well documented. Depending on the rate of flow reduction, the stranding can be substantial. Stranding is greatest from November to April when trout are spawning