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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />Tusher Wash Diversion Dam is located on the Green River near the town of Green River, <br />Utah. This diversion dam supplies water to a water wheel, agravity-fed canal, a pumping <br />station, and a power plant. Research was conducted in 1998 to determine 1) if the dam prevents <br />upstream movement of subadult native fish; 2) if the canal entrains native fish; and, 3) if the dam <br />needs to be modified to better accommodate native. fish. Data showed that native species are <br />being entrained in the canal system. Larval Colorado pikeminnow were found in the canal <br />system, but no razorback sucker larvae were captured. No subadult Colorado pikeminnow were <br />captured in the canal system, but one hatchery-reared razorback sucker was found dead on a trash <br />rack at the power plant. Other native species found in the canal system included flannelmouth <br />sucker, bluehead sucker, speckled dace, and Gila species. Crayfish, northern leopard frogs, and <br />several non-native fish species were also found in the canal system. <br />Tagged fish were able to pass the dam at flows of approximately 4,820 cubic feet (137 <br />cubic meters) per second; however, the discharge of the Green River drops below this level <br />during average years, so it is unknown whether or not native f sh can pass the dam during low <br />flow periods. Entrainment (and probable mortality) of native fish species into the irrigation <br />canals and the power plant is an issue that needs to be addressed. Improvements to Tusher Wash <br />Diversion Dam and its associated canal systems will be expensive to develop and maintain, so <br />other options, such as reducing the amount of water that enters the canal system, should be <br />considered as potential ways to reduce native fish mortality and improve fish passage. <br />LIST OF KEY WORDS <br />Tusher Wash Diversion Dam, Green River, Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, <br />flannelmouth sucker, bluehead sucker, subadult, larvae, fish movement, native species, Green <br />River Canal, Thayn Power Plant, Thayne Ditch <br />vi <br />