7315 ‎(2)‎

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7315
• Author: Colorado Water Conservation Board.
• Title: State of Colorado Hatchery Feasibility Study for Endangered Fishes of the Colorado River Basin, Vols. 1 & 2.
• USFW Year: 1993.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

. RECOVERY FACILITY DESIGN

The operational requirements for the proposed facility are complex in relation to traditional
fish hatcheries due to the unique constraints of working with rare and endangered fish
stocks. An overriding concern in developing a facility design was the high degree of risk
associated with artificial propagation of endangered stocks at critically low population levels.
This problem is compounded because the facility will be receiving and releasing fish that
may be genetically unique, from multiple sources and watersheds. These factors necessitate
that all practical measures are taken to protect fish health and guard against disease
outbreaks and transfer among various populations. Potential disease threats to each of the
four species have been reviewed, so that features which will minimize the threats to fish
health can be incorporated in the facility design. Other design characteristics which must
be emphasized, due to the unique character of endangered fish species culture, are methods
which will minimize or eliminate predation, escapement and theft or vandalism. Genetic
segregation, as well as the quality and quantity of water available, have been given high
priority with a resulting marked influence on design.

.

The purposes of the proposed propagation facility, broodstock and refugia holding facility,
and research facility, which are cumulatively referred to as the recovery facility, are to meet
the endangered fish recovery goals of propagation of endangered fishes, augmentation of
native populations, refugia and broodstock holding and to provide facilities for research.
During the initial development of the scope of work, the CWCB staff selected, for the
purposes of this study, a range of hatchery production goals for each species. These
production scenarios, for each species, are as follows: Scenario 1 - 150,000 fish per year,
Scenario 2 - 300,000 fish per year and Scenario 3 - 600,000 fish per year. These production
goals were estimated to meet the needs of both augmentation and research and were
selected because there was no firm estimate of the number of fish needed for the recovery
program.

The original scope of the design phase of the study was to prepare a recovery facility design
for each of the three highest ranked sites. This design concept was later modified because
the three sites with the highest rankings were similar sites located in the same geographic
region, the San Luis Valley of the Rio Grande Basin, which is outside of the native habitat
of the four endangered fish. The high rankings for these sites resulted primarily from
availability of naturally occurring high temperature (700 to 118'F) groundwater, that is
preferred for spawning and growth and offers a significant cost advantage over heating a
cold water supply. However, to provide for greater flexibility in the ultimate selection of
a hatchery site, the CWCB staff, with agreement of the T AC, decided to revise the study
scope and prepare feasibility level designs for each of the for three types of water sources:
warm groundwater, cold groundwater and surface water.

.

The three different production quantities of 150,000, 300,000, and 600,000 fish of each
species, as specified by the scope of work, were considered for each of the water supply
types. A total of nine design scenarios were developed, including an estimation of

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