9377

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9377
• Author: Colorado Water Workshop.
• Title: 16th Annual Colorado Water Workshop.
• USFW Year: 1991.
• USFW - Doc Type: Western State College.
• Copyright Material: NO

~ ,

Balancing Water Acquisition and Stocking Programs
in the Protection of Endangered Fish
in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Colorado Water Workshop
July 23, 1991

by

John F, Hamill, Director
Colorado River Endangered Fishes Recovery Program
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 24586, DFC
Denver, Colorado, 80225

A. Background of the Recovery Program

1. Three species of fish that inhabit the Colorado River have been federally
listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act: the Colorado squawfish,
the humpback chub, and the bony tail chub. A fourth, the razorback sucker, is
currently proposed for listing.

2. In 1984, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) took the lead in
organizing the Upper Colorado River Basin Coordinating Committee to evaluate
alternatives and develop a program for recovering the endangered fishes in a
manner that was consistent with State water rights systems and Interstate
Compacts.

3. A final document, the "Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish
Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin" (Recovery Program) was developed by
the Coordinating Committee. The Recovery Program outlines an aggressive effort
to recover the "endangered fishes of the Colorado River while allowing for new
water development to continue. The Governor's of Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado,
the Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration, and the Secretary
of the Interior executed a Cooperativ~ Agreement in January 1988 to implement
the Recovery Program and establish a Recovery Implementation Committee whose
purpose is to oversee the Service's implementation of the Recovery Program.
Members of the L:plementation Commit tee inc tude the States of Colorado,
Wyoming, and Utah. the Service. the Bureau of Reclamation, the Western Area
Power Administration. and representatives of the water development interests
and environmental groups.

4. The Recovery Program has five major elements: (a) habitat management
through provision of instream flows, (b) habitat development and maintenance
through non-flow alternatives, (c) stocking of native fishes. (d) management of
non-native species and impacts of c, ~ishing, and (e) research, monitoring
and data management.

B. Bal~ncing WateLAcquisit::ion and Stocking Programs

1. The key to understanding the Service's approach to instream flow
protection and stocking lies in the definition of recovery--a word that is
often used but seldom defined. Recovery is the process by which the decline of