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<br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br /> <br />areas, and restoration of seasonal temperature patterns (Stanford et al. 1996). Amain prediction <br />of river restoration theory is that re-establishment of more natural geo-physical processes should <br />promote recovery of native biota. However, tests the restoration protocol are few. <br />The 105 km-long reach of the Green River, Utah and Colorado, from Flaming Gorge <br />Dam downstream to its confluence with the unregulated Yampa River (the regulated reach), <br />offers an opportunity to evaluate effectiveness of components of the restoration protocol to re- <br />establish native fishes. This is an ideal study area because a source pool of native fishes exists <br />in tributaries and less-regulated downstream reaches of the Green River to re-colonize the <br />regulated reach if suitable conditions became available. This system is also ideal because <br />descriptions of the fish community are available for pre-dam (pre-1962) and post-dam (1964- <br />1966) time periods, as well as before and after installation of a temperature control device (1978- <br />1980). This study was designed to gather fish distribution and abundance data to assess effects <br />of new flow regimes implemented as a result of the 1992 Biological Opinion on operation of <br />Flaming Gorge Dam (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1992). The goal of this study was to <br />evaluate the potential for restoration of native fishes in the regulated reach of the Green River. <br />Specific study objectives as stated in the scope of work are as follows: <br />1). Evaluate the status of the fish fauna of the Green River from Flaming Gorge Dam <br />downstream to the Yampa River, <br />2). Determine the relationship of flow and annual temperature regimes to the current <br />distribution and abundance offish species in the Green River upstream of the <br />Yampa River, <br />3). Compare these relationships to others in the Colorado River basin for which <br />faunal data already exist, <br />4). Determine if rare fish species in the regulated reach of the Green River may <br />benefit from temperature modifications. <br />We used fish community data collected over a 35-year period (Vanicek et al. 1970, <br />Holden and Stalnaker 1975a, Holden and Crist 1981, Holden 1991, this study) to document <br />2 <br />