8176 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

tends to have a small home range. Roundtail chubs marked in Westwater Canyon in the Colorado River and in Desolation and Grey Canyons in the Green River are almost always recaptured at their original capture site, even when several years have elapsed between initial capture and recapture (Tom Chart, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, unpublished data). Therefore, reintroduction efforts will probably be required in order to restore this species to the lower Price River. Several water projects developed in the Price River basin have dramatically reduced the annual discharge of the lower Price River. Historically, the Price River added approximately 157,249 acre feet per year to the Green River basin. Present flows in the Price River are approximately 47.6% of virgin flows during average water years (LJ.S. Bureau of Reclamation 1998b). A proposed transbasin diversion project in the basin, known as the Narrows Project, would further reduce flows in the basin. Completion of this project would reduce flows in the Price River to approximately 44% of virgin flows (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 1998b). Peak discharges from Scofield Reservoir would likely be reduced in response to this reduction in inflow, and releases during moderate run off years would be altered most (LT.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 1998a). If spring flows are reduced, as is proposed in the Environmental Impact Statement, non-native species will probably be provided with more suitable habitat. This change in habitat, and increased competition and predation by non-native species will likely be harmful to the native fish community. Another action that may affect discharge of the Price River is the salinity reduction program that is currently in progress. This program is helping irrigators to convert their fields from flood irrigation to drip irrigation in order to reduce salinity input into the Green River system. Conversion to drip-irrigation systems will reduce the amount of water irrigators need to use, which will allow them to imgate lands that are not currently in production. The end result could be less return flow from irrigated lands. The Price River Water Improvement District (PRWID) is currently having trouble meeting the standards for effluent. For this reason, they are considering selling the effluent for use in an evaporative cooling system (Lee Baxter, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, personal communication). This action would reduce flows in the lower Price River throughout the year. In addition, PRWID and Utah Power and Light have expressed interest in leasing additional water during the winter for culinary use and power generation (Mike Slater, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, personal communication). The data collected during this study provides a great deal of information about the use of the Price River by native and non-native species. However, while this information provides answers to many of the questions that were originally of interest, some questions remain unanswered and new questions have arisen. Much work needs to be done in order to better understand the importance of the Price River to the Green River system, protect the native fish that currently use this habitat, and enhance habitat quality and native fish populations. First, additional efforts should be made to determine the value of the lower Price River as spawning and nursery habitat for native fishes. The lower 20 miles of the Price River may contain suitable Colorado pikeminnow spawning habitat. One ripe male Colorado pikeminnow was captured, and successful reproduction and recruitment were documented for flannelmouth suckers, bluehead suckers and speckled dace. Documentation of successful spawning will be difficult due to the inefficiency of the gear available to capture larval fish in habitats that are common in the Price River. However, the gear types that were used did catch some larval fish of 16