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" the flow recommendations of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Sections III and IV of this report); (b) to identify critical uncertainties or key issues, technical and nontechnical, related to provision of instream flows (Section V); and (c) to provide recommendations to resolve the technical issues related to quantifying the instream flow needs of the endangered fishes (Section VI). These objectives could not be met without a thorough reading of the literature describing the biogeochemistry of the river system (reviewed in Section ill); thus, I also offer perspective on the quality and completeness of the ecological information base in the context of flow provisions to protect and enhance the fish populations of concern. Results of this study hopefully will assist the Recovery Program members in their decision- making process for meeting fish needs and directing future instream flow studies for the endangered fish. Moreover, the report also is intended to be a scientific synthesis of the ecosystem encompassed by the Upper Colorado River Basin, which has been extensively altered by dams and diversions (Figure 1). II. Methods and Approach Review of Information I located and read peer-reviewed publications and unpublished reports pertaining to the ecology of the fishes, along with documents providing rationale and data for flow provisions recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Also, I discussed data, rationale and issues related to flow provisions with researchers, management personnel and persons with detailed knowledge of issues pertaining to provision of in stream flows. Literature cited in the body of this report includes works that I determined to be most pertinent to an informed discussion of instream flow provisions in the context of the Upper Colorado River Basin and its rare, endemic fishes. Additional literature I located but did not refer to in the report are cited in Appendix 1. 4