6010 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

THE PLANNING, OPERATION, AND ANALYSIS OF THE GREEN .RIVER FISH CONTROL PROJECT INTRODUCTION In November of 1962 Flaming Gorge Dam, a unit of the Colorado River Storage Project in Northeastern Utah, began impounding waters of the Green River from approximately 15,000 square miles of drainage area. The dam, 495 feet high, will impound 3,930,000 acre feet of water and form a reser- voir some 42,000 surface acres when full. This publication describes and analyzes the five years of planning and field work which eventually terminated in the treatment of 445 miles of the river and its tributaries above the dam. The project had one principal objective---to manipulate non-desirable fish populations in (aver of more desirable game fish species. The Green River, upstream from the Big Piney Area, has long been regarded as ore of the finest tro~_~t. streams ir, the State of Wyoming. Unfortunately, this reputation does not prevail throughout the lower reaches of the river in Wyoming and Utah. The lower section of the Green River courses through over 100 miles of the Green River, Brid.ger and Wasatch formations. These formations are composed of gravel, sandstone and shale, and are overlain with highly erosive soils. The precipitation in this drainage varies from 13 inches annually i.n the. headwaters to 8 inches along the lower section. Near Flaming Jorge, ri.ve.r• flews vary from approxi- mately 12,000 cfs during spring rt;.noff to average lows of apprrcximately 450 cfs. Within. the project area air temperatures range generally from -50° F. extremie in winter tc about 100° F. and water temper. a-tares from 32° to 75" F'. A rehabilitation program, was ir.~formally discussed as a possible step in the management of the proposed Flaming Gcr•g-~ Re-ser.•vcir' as early as 1957• At that time, both the Seedskadee and LaBarge projects were being considered as participating projects in the Colorado River development, but definite information was lacking. Wyoming was considering treatment above the proposed Fonterelle Dam of the Seedskadee Project located on the Green River some 150 miles above Flaming Gorge Darn, and both agencies were interested in cooperative efforts of management between the dais. S~.;bsequently, action on the LaBarge Prefect was terminated and closure of the ~'criteneIl_e Dam., whicl-i it had been hoped would. closely coincide with teat of the Flaming Gorge Dam, was set for 1963. Since then it has been delayed still further. This sequence of events made it necessary to consider the management- of the river and reservoirs as a unit .rather than as separate segments. Specific recommendations for treatment were based en fisheries surveys conducted upstream from the Flamir_g Gorge Dam during the years 1958, 1959, and .1960. The surveys measured ar_d evaluated physical, chemical, and biological features of the habitat and established a check list of fish present and the range and the relative abundance of each species retarded. Similar check lists were established fe.r other forms of aquatic life. These investigations are described in two reports, (Bosley, 1960)(McDonald and Dotson, 1960).