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SYNOPSIS Study Background: The hydrology of the White River is characterized by high spring flows caused by runoff from snow melt, followed by recession to low, relatively stable, base flows between August and February. The average annual discharge of the White River at the Colorado-Utah state line is about 7.34 x 108 m3 (595,100 acre-feet); average annual depletions in the basin are approximately 3.75 x 108 m3 (304,000 acre-feet). The principal water use is irrigation, followed by municipal. Taylor Draw Dam, a run-of-the-river project, was completed in 1984. Its storage capacity is 3% of the total annual discharge. It is located near Rangely, Colorado, 168 km (104.5 river miles) upstream from the confluence with the Green River. The White River is important to the recovery of the Colorado pikeminnow. The highest catch rates of this species in the upper Colorado River basin have been in the White River, and preliminary estimates suggest that the density of Colorado pikeminnow is two to three times the density in the Yampa River. Furthermore, the White River population of Colorado pikeminnow contributes spawners to both the Yampa River and lower Green River. Endangered fish occupying the White River are limited primarily to the adult life stage of the Colorado pikeminnow. No humpback chub or bony tail populations have been identified in the river and only a few razorback sucker and juvenile Colorado pikeminnow have been collected, most in the extreme lower reach ofthe river. Although the current hydro graph is similar to the historic flow, approximately 30% of the upstream habitat available to Colorado 2