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Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, California) could develop their respective water <br />entitlements. The dam and reservoir also produce hydropower and provide fish and wildlife <br />benefits. Mean annual discharge in the Green River upstream of the Yampa River has not <br />changed appreciably as a result of dam closure (59 m3/s post-dam versus 56 m'/s pre-dam). <br />However, seasonal flow variability has been considerably reduced. Since Flaming Gorge Dam <br />was closed in 1962, June mean maximum flow of the Green River has been reduced from 381 <br />m'/s to 139 m'/s (Tyus and Karp 1991, Muth et al. 2000). Flows at all other times of the year <br />have increased. In addition, releases for peaking power production were made up to twice per <br />day, resulting in short-term daily fluctuations much greater than historically occurred. Annual <br />volume of sediment transported by the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam has decreased by <br />54% as a result of deposition in the upstream reservoir (Andrews 1986). <br />The relatively unregulated Yampa River, a major tributary of the Green River, exhibited <br />greater seasonal variability and more stable daily flows than the Green River below the dam. <br />During the period 1963 to 2004, annual flow maxima in the Yampa River occasionally reached <br />566 m'/s, but sometimes declined to < 2 m'/s in late summer (U. S. Geological Survey et seq.; <br />Maybell Gauge, 09251000). <br />METHODS <br />Methods of fish collections used in this study were essentially identical to those reported <br />in Bestgen et al. (2006). Collections ofsmall-bodied (< 150 mm TL, most were 25 to 75-mm <br />TL) and large-bodied (150- mm TL or greater) fishes were made from 2002 to 2006 to describe <br />current distribution and abundance patterns of fishes in the Green River from Swinging Bridge in <br />Browns Park to the downstream end ofIsland-Rainbow Park, portions of which were reported in <br />Bestgen et al. (2006). Water temperature and discharge data were used to understand the <br />relationship of physical factors to longitudinal distribution and abundance patterns of fishes in <br />the regulated portion of the Green River. Discharge and temperature regimes associated with <br />specific dam operations were compared to changes in fish distribution and abundance patterns. <br />8 <br />