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A <br />The fluctuating nature of Lake Powell greatly influences the location of <br />inflow, backwaters and/or habitat available. When the lake level is full, or <br />nearly so (3690 to 3100 feet), there are no backwater habitats below Clay <br />Hills Crossing on the San Juan or few above Hite on the Colorado. However, <br />when lake levels are low, there can be several miles of river that may have <br />slackwater or backwater habitats to provide nursery habitat for native fish <br />below Clay Hills or Hite. The amount and rate of water released from the dam <br />plays an important role in determining the quality and amount of certain types <br />of habitat available for fish in the entire lake. <br />2. Inflow Goal: To protect and restore native fish populations, particularly <br />threatened and endangered fishes endemic to the Colorado River Basin. <br />3. Inflow Management Objectives <br />a. Understand needs of native fish and enhance survival. <br />b. Assess impact of dam operation on native fish habitat and survival. <br />c. Quantify habitat at varying lake levels. <br />d. Assess impact of predation on YOY natives at inflow. <br />e. Evaluate habitat use and timing by fry and other life stages that <br />may use the inflow on a seasonal basis. <br />f. Quantify native fish population size and structure. <br />g. Understand and assess contaminant levels in fish and sediment. <br />h. Understand the role of migration barriers to fish movements. <br />i. Investigate movement patterns, habitat utilization, and species <br />interactions in the inflows. <br />j. Provide the opportunity for hatcheries to stock surplus native fish <br />in the critical habitat reaches at inflows. <br />C. LAKE POWELL <br />1. Status of Lake Powell: Lake Powell's site, grandeur, and location make it <br />a destination stop for residents of surrounding states and visitors from all <br />over the U.S. and many foreign lands. Over 3 million people visit Glen Canyon <br />NRA annually and those that fish exert close to 2 million angler hours in <br />pursuit of a wide variety of sport fish. Over the life of the reservoir, <br />anglers have caught one fish for every two hours fished. As angling pressure <br />has increased, catch rate has declined. Currently, the catch rate is near 0.3 <br />fish per hour. About half the fish caught are harvested, resulting in an <br />average harvest of 300,000 fish annually. The native Colorado River fishes <br />have not fared well in the reservoir environment dominated by nonnative <br />predators. While some native species may spawn within the reservoir and <br />19 <br />