9363

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9363
• Author: Muth, R. T., L. W. Crist, K. E. LaGory, J. W. Hayse, K. R. Bestgen, J. K. Lyons, T. P. Ryan and R. A. Valdez.
• Title: Flow Recommendations for Endangered Fishes in the Green River Downstream of Flaming Gorge Dam.
• USFW Year: 1999.
• USFW - Doc Type: Lakewood.
• Copyright Material: NO

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Draft - Do Not Cite

May 1999

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " ii

LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. vii

LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND UNITS OF MEASURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..........................................,.......... xv

1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................ 1-1

1.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE .,.......................................... 1-2
1.2 CHANGES IN RIVER ECOSYSTEMS OF THE COLORADO

RIVER BASIN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " 1-4

1.2.1 The Green River System ..................................... 1-8
1.3 1992 BIOLOGICAL OPINION ON OPERATION OF FLAMING

GORGE DAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1-10

2 FLAMING GORGE FLOW RECOMMENDATIONS INVESTIGATION.........,... 2-1

2.1 STUDY AREA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

2.2 STUDY OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
2.3 RESEARCH FLOWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
2.4 DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED FLOW RECOMMENDATIONS. . . . . . . 2-8

3 HYDROLOGY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY OF THE GREEN RIVER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
3.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GREEN RIVER BASIN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
3.2 OPERATIONS OF FLAMING GORGE DAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
3.3 DESCRIPTION OF GREEN RIVER REACHES DOWNSTREAM
OF FLAMING GORGE DAM ..................................... 3-7
3.4 FLOWS IN THE GREEN RIVER DOWNSTREAM OF FLAMING

GORGE DAM ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11

3.4.1 Seasonal Distribution of Green River Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-17
3.4.2 Peak Flows in the Green River ...............................3-17
3.4.3 Base Flows in the Green River ............................... 3-20
3.4.4 Tributary Contributions to Green River Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-28
3.4.5 Stage-Flow Relationships and the Effect of Hydropower
Operations on Daily Fluctuations ............................ 3-31

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