Laserfiche WebLink
7 <br />Rare fish were weighed, measured, and tagged with an anchor tag in the epaxial <br />muscle mass just ventral to the center of the dorsal fin, and released at the <br />point of capture. <br />Water quality data (dissolved oxygen, salinity, conductivity and temper- <br />ature) were collected using YSI meters (Yellow Springs Inst. Co.) during <br />most sampling trips. At the locations where rare or endangered fish were <br />collected turbidity and pH were also measured using a Hach Kit. Photographs <br />depicting river habitat were taken during high and low flow periods. <br />Fifteen sample sites were used between the Utah-Colorado border and the <br />UOIR's eastern border in 1978 and April 30-May 3, 1979, the low water periods <br />(Figure 3). The exact location and a brief description of each station at <br />moderate to low flow follows: <br />Station 1 - Little Dick's Bottom (Figure 4): At this site, the river <br />coursed through a fairly broad, flat sagebrush covered valley. Willows, <br />sagebrush, and cottonwood dominated the riparian vegetation. The river was <br />split by an island and several riffles and pools (maximum depth 6 ft (9.6 m) <br />in the smallest channel were sampled. Pools had silt and muck covered <br />bottoms; riffles were composed of silt covered gravel and hard sand. <br />Station 2 - Cowboy Canyon (Figure 5): This relatively straight stretch <br />of river flowed through a moderately narrow canyon. A large gravel bar par- <br />titioned a shallow, backwater area from the main channel which had a uniform <br />depth not greater than 3 ft (1 m) and a substantial flow which made sampling <br />difficult. Both the backwater and the main channel had a gravel and rubble <br />substrate. No pools were present. <br />Station 3 - Hells Hole Canyon (Figure 6): In Hells Hole Canyon, the river <br />made a broad turn through a very narrow canyon. The river was split by a