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ALTERNATIVES Although numerous alternatives were considered while attempting to identify the procedure that would have the least environmental impacts, four alternatives cover the options that were considered: 1. No Action. Under the "No Action" alternative, any captive-reared endangered fish that were considered to be surplus to Recovery Program needs would be kept in captivity. None would be stocked into the Upper Colorado River Basin nor euthanized. 2. Discontinue Propagation of Endangered Fishes. Under this alternative, management and conservation of the four endangered Colorado River fishes would be done without the use of refuges and propagation facilities. Disposition of surplus captive-reared fishes would not be an issue under this alternative. 3. Stock SurDlus Endangered Fish into the Upper Colorado River Basin. Under this alternative, all surplus captive-reared endangered fish would be stocked into the Upper Colorado River Basin. 4. Implement Disposition Guidelines (Preferred Alternative). Recovery Program participants discussed the various options for disposition of captive-reared endangered fish and adopted "Guidelines for Disposition of Captive-Reared Endangered Fish" (Appendix A). These guidelines provide a prioritized list of options for using endangered fish that are surplus to Recovery Program needs. DESCRIPTION OF AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT The affected environment is the critical habitat of the endangered fishes in the Upper Colorado River Basin (Figure 1; Maddux et al. 1993). The critical habitat of the endangered fishes includes the Green River between its confluence with the Colorado and Yampa rivers; the Yampa River to River Mile 139 at Craig, Colorado; the White River to River Mile 150 near Meeker, Colorado; the Colorado River to River Mile 238 at Rifle, Colorado; and the Gunnison River to River Mile 75 upstream of Delta, Colorado. River miles on the Colorado River begin with 0 at the inlet to Lake Powell. River miles on all other rivers begin from their confluence with the next largest river. The Colorado River and its tributaries flows through 2,317 km (1,440 miles) of arid land and serves over 15 million people with water for municipal use, irrigated agriculture, industry, and mining (Utah Water Research Laboratory 1975). This river flows through arid to semi-arid land and is supplied by only 60 acre-feet of water per square mile annually which is less than any other major river in the United States. The importance of the Colorado River to history of western United States is concisely stated by Crawford and Petersen (1974): "The Colorado is probably the most utilized, controlled, and fought over river in the world. It flows through lands of incomparable beauty and includes nearly seven percent of the nation's contiguous land mass, including parts of seven states. From the time of the early settlers to the present, the water of the Colorado River has been the key to development of 5