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Last modified
7/14/2009 5:02:32 PM
Creation date
5/20/2009 3:24:48 PM
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UCREFRP
UCREFRP Catalog Number
8089
Author
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Title
Final Environmental Assessment Gunnison River Activities, Passageway Around the Redlands Diversion Dam and Interim Agreement to Provide Water for Endangered Fish.
USFW Year
1995.
USFW - Doc Type
Grand Junction, Colorado.
Copyright Material
NO
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Under the alternatives to construct the passageway, no significant impact on wildlife species is <br />projected due to the small acreage involved with the fish passageway and due to plans to replace <br />vegetation losses. <br />It is recognized that altered operation of the Aspinall Unit can affect fisheries in Blue Mesa <br />Reservoir and in the Gold Medal trout fishery downstream. The proposed interim water <br />agreement will involve releases of water from the reservoir and maintenance of these flows past <br />the Redlands Diversion Dam. These changes are shown in Tables 1 through 4 on pages 21, 23, <br />and 24, and in Appendix E. Resultant effects on fish and wildlife resources will not be <br />significant under Alternatives A and B because changes in river flows and reservoir content are <br />minor in most years as can be seen from the tables. In a series of dry years exemplified by <br />1990, the reduction in Blue Mesa Reservoir's water content could reduce productivity of the <br />reservoir. Presently, Colorado State University is conducting studies on the reservoir limnology <br />and the relationship between reservoir productivity and operations; and this information will help <br />in the development of a long-term water contract. There will be some benefits to the trout <br />fishery in the Black Canyon and Gunnison Gorge areas as low summer flows would occasionally <br />be supplemented over existing conditions. <br />Improved flow regimes in the Gunnison River downstream from the Redlands Diversion Dam <br />in low flow periods will benefit both terrestrial and aquatic resources down to the confluence <br />with the Colorado River by better supporting associated riparian vegetation communities and <br />increasing the wetted perimeter of the river channel. <br />Endangered Species <br />Existing Conditions <br />The large rivers of the Upper Colorado River Basin are home for four native fish species that <br />are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. This means that the fish are in <br />danger of extinction. The four fish are the Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus Lucius), the <br />razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), the humpback chub (Gila cypha), and the bonytail chub <br />(G. elegans). A variety of factors--diversion of flows, introduction of non-native species, <br />floodplain alterations, barriers to migration, and water quality--have significantly changed the <br />rivers these fish live in and their numbers have dropped sharply. In the Gunnison River (McAda <br />and Kaeding, 1991) flows have been depleted and the naturally occurring high spring flows have <br />been reduced. The Redlands Diversion Dam has cut off migrations of fish from the Colorado <br />River into the Gunnison as seen by the relatively large numbers of fish that congregate <br />downstream from the dam and the low numbers upstream. <br />Various sources indicate that the Colorado squawfish and razorback suckers were once common <br />in the Gunnison River from the Delta area to Grand Junction (Kidd, 1977; Chamberlain 1946; <br />and Osmundson and Kaeding, 1989). Quartarone (1993) presents several local historical <br />accounts on the abundance of Colorado squawfish and razorback suckers in the Gunnison River <br />27
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