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will be affected in certain years when drawdowns are increased. This would most likely occur in a series of dry years. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT--Will there be water left for private development; will permitting of work near the river be more difficult if fish do become established in the Gunnison River; and will the program affect construction of the Dominguez Project? Water in Blue Mesa is available for a variety of uses including supporting private development. To date the demand for acquiring this water for development has been small, but water remains for sale. The Colorado Water Conservation Board is conducting studies to determine how the Recovery Program can be implemented without affecting Colorado's existing and future water uses. The Board believes the program can and should protect both the fish and present and future water development. The Gunnison River downstream from Delta is established as critical habitat for the endangered fish and projects adversely affecting the river must address this at the present time, whether or not a fish passageway is constructed. The Dominguez Project would inundate areas of critical habitat and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have to consider this when evaluating the project. In terms of overall water resources development, the Recovery Program's goal is to recover the fish species while allowing water development. ENDANGERED FISH--Why not use a hatchery program to assist endangered fish rather than the proposed actions; how can the fish flows be protected (to remain in river); will additional releases from the Aspinall Unit make water too cold for endangered fish; will the fish really migrate up the Gunnison River; when do you conclude that the fish have enough habitat or water; will non-native game fish be harmed; and what happens if the problem with endangered fish is really water quality? A hatchery program has been started under the Recovery Program and is an important part of the recovery efforts. The ultimate goal for recovering the fish, however, is to establish populations that sustain themselves rather than depend on periodic stocking. The fish passageway is considered an important part of this effort on the Gunnison River. Water for the fish will come from the Aspinall Unit storage and will be protected from diversion under Colorado's water right system in a manner similar to any other reservoir release. In general, the fish will be recovered when there are self-sustaining populations in several portions of their historic habitat. Non-native game fish will not be affected by the passageway itself. The intenm,tlow agreement may provide slight benefits to the Gold Medal trout waters of the Gunnison River as well as to the trout habitat between the North Fork and Delta. The releases will be small (300 cfs maximum) and occur in warm summer months and are not expected to affect water temperatures in the lower Gunnison River. A slight cooling effect could occur in the river upstream from Austin. In most years, productivity of Blue Mesa Reservoir should not be significantly affected. In a series of dry years, reservoir drawdowns will be increased and this will reduce productivity. If water quality turns out to be a primary problem for the endangered fish, the passageway itself will not bean important benefit to recovery efforts. 41