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EVALUATION OF STOCKING CHANNEL CATFISH IN KENNEY RESERVOIR, COLORADO Final Report I. Introduction This was a two yeaz monitoring study to evaluate channel catfish' for creating a sportfishery in Kenney Reservoir. Three thousand channel catfish were stocked in the reservoir in 1992. The study was conducted in 1993 and 1994. Additional sampling occurred in 1995, 1996, and 1997 that resulted in the collection of channel catfish from the project azea. This report analyzes data collected during those five years. II. Background Kenney Reservoir is a mainstem impoundment that was created in 1984 by Taylor Draw Dam on the White River neaz Rangely, Colorado (Figure 1). The purpose of the reservoir project was to provide municipal, agricultural, and industrial water; and flood control, recreation, and hydroelectric power (LJ.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1982). The reservoir is approximately 10 km long and occupies 243 surface ha (600 acres). Maximum depth is 15.2 m (50 feet) at the dam. Normal reservoir surface elevation is 1,620.8 m (5,317.50 feet) mean sea level. The hydroelectric facility is operated run-of--the-river. The outlet from the dam is a 2.4 m (8 feet) penstock, enclosed with a 2.5 cm (1 inch) by 5 cm (2 inch) mesh trash rack. This trash rack is not removable and must be cleaned by divers. The invert of the penstock is at a depth of 15.2 m. Sportfishing is an intended use of the reservoir, however, it does not appeaz to provide optimum habitat for most sportfish. Martinez (1986) characterized the river in this azea as a transitional zone with trout habitat above and warmwater fish habitat below. Because of the lazge water inflow entering the reservoir compazed to the storage volume (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1982), reservoir aquatic habitat remains similar to riverine conditions. Martinez (1986) observed that retention time was too short to significantly alter the temperature of reservoir releases. Also, the White River has a high sediment load (L1.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1982) and sometimes the entire reservoir becomes turbid (Martinez 1986). Kenney Reservoir lies in critical habitat for Colorado pikeminnows (formerly Colorado squawfish), a state and federally listed endangered species. Before the reservoir was built the project azea was occupied by Colorado pikeminnows (Miller et al. 1982, Colorado River Fishes Recovery Team 1Scientific names of all fishes mentioned in this report are given in Appendix A; Table A-1. Only common names for fish are used in the text. 1