18 ‎(6)‎

• Board Meeting Date: 7/22/2009
• Description: WPFM Section - Fish and Wildlife Resources Fund Grant - Fountain Creek Fish Passage
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Section 3.3: Technical Narrative Description
3.31. Project NeedlDefinition of the Problem
The proposed project ~vill provide the required planning, research, design and engineering for fish
passage around an e~isting ~vater diversion dasn that is located on Fountain Creek in an area
kno~vn as Clear Springs Ranch. The target species for the fish passage are the state-threatened
Arkansas darter and state species of concern flathead chub, although it is e~pected that other fish
with siinilar physical characteristics will use the fish passage. Currentlv, there are over 20
obstructions on Fountain Creek bet~veen Colorado Springs and the Arkansas River in Pueblo.
None of these stt-uctures have a fish passage associated ~vith thein, ~vhich has contributed to
declining fish populations on Fountain Creek.
The Clear Springs Ranch ~vater diversion dasn ~vas rated as a high need for a fish passage b~- the
USACE, CDOW, USGS, and Colorado Springs Utilities (owner of the e~isting water diversion
dasn). All of these agencies haue studied the Clear Springs Ranch ~vater diversion for its iinpact
on aquatic wildlife. A brief description of their finding is described in Section 3.32.A. In order to
design a successful fish passage, the ph~-sical abilities such as _jumping, strength, stamina, etc. of
the target species inust be kno~vn. Unfortunatelv, this t~-pe of inforination is not available for
Colorado plains fish species because plains fish passage projects haue not been atteinpted in
Colorado or ~vithin the nation. All of the research indicates that the onlv fish passage projects
coinpleted to date have been for sport fish such as sahnon and trout ~vhich have verv different
ph~-sical characteristics ~vhen compared to the target species. Colorado State Universitv has the
e~pertise and facilities to complete performance testing of the target species. Because it has not
been done before and the high need for this project, Colorado State Universitv has agreed to
coinplete the stud~- for this project at a highl~- reduced rate and CDOW, USGS and USACE haue
all agreed to provide a significant asnount of in-kind services. Letters of support from each
agenc~- articulating the need for the project and lever of in-kind contribution are provided in the
Appendi~.
Another major benefit of this project is that ~ve ~vill be able to provide data and design
inforination that ~vill greatl~- enhance the iinpleinentation of future plains fish passage projects on
Fountain Creek, as ~vell as Colorado and the nation.
3.3.2. Project Goals and Objectives
3.3.2.A. Current Conditions
Some salient facts about the dasn are:
• The dasn was built about 30 vears ago, probably 19'76 or 19'7'7. As builts are a~ailable.
• There is a five-foot drop over the dasn, ~vhich is an impediment to fish passage.
• When the gate is closed, flo~vs back up about 100 vards.
• The dasn is used for diversion from April through end of October in most vears.
• During irrigation season, once or t~vice a~veek, the gate is opened for 3-4 hours to inove
sediinent that has accrued behind the gate.
Photos of the dasn are included in the Appendi~.
Messrs. Gary Dowler (CDOW), Jun Bruce (USGS biologist), and Paul Foutz (CDOW) visited the
Clear Springs site March 12, 2008. Following is an overview of what thev docuinented.
The velocity ineasureinents were taken at 0930 hours on March 12"', 2008. The biologists took
velocitv ineasureinents at the far ~vest bank (3 foot ~vidth across and a depth of .8 feet) at ~vhat