7754 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

., .... e e REALITIES OF PROVIDING WATER FOR ENDANGERED FISHES IN THE UPPER COLORADO RIVER SYSTEM Most people recogn~ze the role of the Bureau of Reclamation in building hydro- electric dams, irrigation delivery systems, and in providing municipal and industrial water supplies. However, as a Federal Agency we are charged also with a responsibility to conserve, protect, and restore endangered species. Often our responsibility to develop water conflicts with the responsibility to preserve the fish which use that same water. In the Upper Colorado Region, this conflict has led to all of our projects, either planned, under construction, or operational having undergone, to some degree, consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service. The objective of this consultation is to promote the continued existence of three endangered fish species, the Colorado squawfish, Ptychocheilus lucius; the Humpback chub, Gila cypha; and the Bony tail chub, Gila elegans. In order for us realistically to Vlew the endangered specles problem in the Upper Colorado River Basin, we must look at three important areas which determine water use: natural flow conditions of the Colorado River system, legal constraints - imposed on the construction and operation of facilities, and the political climate in an area with limited water resources and enormous growth potential. A. Natural Flow Conditions of the Colorado River System The natural flow of the Colorado River as! it leaves the Upper Basin at Lee Ferry (just below the Paria River confluence) h~s averaged slightly less than 15 million acre-feet (MAF) annually over the last 80: years. Annual flows have ranged from a low of 6 MAF to a high of 24 MAP and ins tantaneous flows have varied from 1,000 cubic feet per second (C.F.S,), to 300,090 c.f.s. /