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238 <br />atures (Martinez unpublished data). Unless <br />stocked, channel catfish should not increase in <br />abundance in Kenney Reservoir or in the White <br />River above the reservoir. <br />Green sunfish were considered rare in the White <br />River and restricted largely to Utah (Tyus et al. <br />1982). Adult and young-of-year green sunfish were <br />collected below the dam in 1989-1990 suggesting <br />this species could spread throughout in the lower <br />White River. Conditions in Kenney Reservoir <br />proved favorable for black crappie; this species re- <br />produced successfully in the reservoir and may re- <br />produce in the river immediately below the dam <br />(Trammell 1991). Reports of black crappie in the <br />White and Green rivers near their confluence in <br />Utah in 1989 (S. Cranney personal communication) <br />confirmed that its distribution increased greatly be- <br />yond that reported by Tyus et al. (1982). Other <br />warmwater sport fish collected, black bullhead, <br />blueg,ill and largemouth bass, are not expected to <br />increase dramatically, but the reservoir provides <br />more favorable habitat for them than occurred in <br />the unimpounded White River. <br />Large numbers of trout stocked in Kenney Res- <br />ervoir moved over the dam resulting in as many <br />trout being harvested in the plunge pool and chan- <br />nels immediately below the dam as in the reservoir <br />itself. While trout were reported in the White River <br />as much as 50 km below the dam. few were reported <br />after springtime suggesting that trout moving <br />downstream out of the reservoir were caught, had <br />dispersed widely, or had died. Trout escapement <br />from the reservoir was presumed innocuous, how- <br />ever. large numbers of trout in the river increased <br />angling activity that may have increased incidental <br />catch of Colorado squawfish. <br />Construction of large main stem dams on the up- <br />per Colorado River and its tributaries have contrib- <br />uted to highly altered flow, water temperature, and <br />sediment transport at the expense of native fishes <br />(Wydoski & Hammill 1991). Aside from the result- <br />ing loss of stream habitat through inundation and <br />blockage of migration routes due to impoundment <br />(Wydoski & Hammil 1991), Taylor Draw Dam and <br />Kenney Reservoir imparted comparatively subtle <br />physical changes to the White River (Wullschleger <br />1990. Chart & Bergersen 1992). Despite this, our in- <br />vestigation indicates smaller-scale, main stem im- <br />poundments pose a substantial threat to native ich- <br />thyofauna by facilitating establishment and prolif- <br />eration of non-native fishes. Probably the greatest <br />boon to non-native species resulting from Kenney <br />Reservoir is that it provides suitable habitat for <br />their recruitment. It is this ecological benefit to <br />non-native species that will facilitate their contin- <br />ued proliferation in the White River. <br />Acknowledgements <br />Water User's Association Number 1 provided fund- <br />ing for the early portion of this study and their per- <br />sonnel, G. Trainor. J. Geyler and J. 'Hoot' Gibson, <br />provided valuable support. W. Burkhard and R. <br />VanBuren, Colorado Division of Wildlife, initiated <br />this study. A. Martinez identified fish larvae during <br />the early portion of this study. U.S. Fish and Wildlife <br />Service, Colorado River Fishery Project, provided <br />funding. equipment, and assistance in various as- <br />pects of these projects. We especially thank <br />USFWS biologists L. Kaeding. B. Burdick and H. <br />Tyus. S. Cranney. Utah Division of Wildlife Re- <br />sources, provided fish distribution and access infor- <br />mation during the early portion of this project. We <br />thank W. Wiltzius. T. Powell. T. Nesler, R. Behnke <br />and an anonymous reviewer for reviewing drafts of <br />this paper. <br />References cited <br />Baxter, G.T. & J.R. Simon. 1970. Wyoming fishes. Wyoming <br />Game and Fish Department Bulletin 4. Cheyenne. 168 pp. <br />Chart, T.E. 1987. The initial effect of impoundment on the fish <br />community of the White River, Colorado. M. Sc. Thesis. Col- <br />orado State University. Fort Collins. 112 pp. <br />Chart, T.E. & E.P. Bergersen. 1992. Impact of mainstream im- <br />poundment on the distribution and movements of the resident <br />flannelmouth sucker (Catostomidae: Catostomus latipinnis) <br />population in the White River, Colorado. Southw. Nat. 37: 9- <br />15. <br />Hickman. T.J. 1983. Effects of habitat alteration by energy re- <br />source developments in the Upper Colorado River Basin on <br />endangered fishes. pp. 537-550. /n: V.D. Adams & V.A. La- <br />marra (ed.) Aquatic Resources Management of the Colorado <br />River Ecosystem. Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Ann Arbor.