9573

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9573
• Author: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
• Title: Price-Stubb Fish Passage - Final Environmental Assessment.
• USFW Year: 2004.
• USFW - Doc Type: Grand Junction, CO.
• Copyright Material: NO

Price-Stubb Fish Passage FONSI Page 6
"The Service anticipates incidental take of endangered fishes will be difficult to detect for
the following reasons: 1) finding a dead specimen is unlikely, 2) finding remains of
endangered fish in the stomachs of nonnative fish is unlikely because digestion makes
fish hard to identify, 3) documenting competition is difficult, and 4) fish sampling is
rarely conducted between the Government Highline Dam and Price-Stubb Dam. The
Service anticipates the amount of take to be small because the proposed fish passage
project will only allow nonnative fish access to approximately 3 miles of critical habitat."
The Service in its biological opinion issued an Incidental Take Statement and identified
reasonable and prudent measures necessary and appropriate to minimize take of Colorado
pikeminnow, razorback sucker, and bonytail. Reasonable and prudent measures included:
"The Bureau of Reclamation through the Recovery Program shall determine the number
and species of nonnative fishes moving upstream in the Colorado River above the Price-
Stubb Dam."
In order to be exempt from the prohibitions of section 9 of the Endangered Species Act,
Reclamation must comply with the following terms and conditions, which implement the
reasonable and prudent measure described above. The terms and conditions are nondiscretionary
and include:
1. "The Recovery Program shall monitor the numbers and species of nonnative fishes
entering the future fish passage facility at the Government Highline Dam and provide
an annual report to the Service."
2. "The Recovery Program shall prevent farther upstream travel of nonnative fishes by
removing nonnative fishes from the river at the Government Highline Dam when the
fish passage facility, with selective passage, is completed."
Environmental Commitments
The Downstream Rock Fish Passage with Whitewater Features alternative will be constructed
based on the following conditions:
1) The Town of Palisade secures non-recovery program funding for the incremental
costs associated with the Downstream Rock Fish Passage with Whitewater Features
2) The Town of Palisade obtains necessary permits from underlying landowners
(CDOT, E.R. Jacobson, and Palisade and Mesa County Irrigation Districts) for the
construction, operation, and maintenance of the whitewater features.
3) The Town of Palisade assumes ownership, liability, and maintenance responsibility
for the whitewater features.
4) The Town of Palisade obtains public access to the whitewater features from the
Union Pacific Railroad, E.R. Jacobson and CDOT.