7281 ‎(2)‎

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7281
• Author: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Title: Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin, Environmental Assessment, November 1987.
• USFW Year: 1987.
• USFW - Doc Type: Denver, Colorado.
• Copyright Material: NO

CHAPTER II
ALTERNATIVES, INCLUDING THE PROPOSED ACTION
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(c) Purchasing or leasing existing water rights and converting these
rights into instream flow rights,
(d) Acquiring "excess" water resulting from agricultural water
conservation and salinity control projects and converting
acquired water into instream flows,
(e) Changing the point of diversion for senior water rights to
downstream locations,
(f) Acquiring nontributary ground water that could be pumped and put
into streams, or
(g) Applying for original appropriation of instream flows in surface
streams.
Positive efforts taken under the Proposed Action would affect
Section 7 consultation on future projects. As a prime example, if
significant progress were made in acquiring instream flows, future
project depletions will be less likely to jeopardize endangered fish,
and alternatives other than direct offset of depletions by the
project sponsor will be acceptable. Once the program is successfully
underway, the Service will agree that indirect depletion impacts can
be offset by the contribution of funds to purchase water and
implement other recovery activities. Contribution amounts will be
proportional to the amount of water depleted, and will cost $10/acre-
foot, based on average annual depletion and adjusted annually for
inflation. Nondepletion impacts will be subject to Section 7
consultation as described in the "No Action" alternative.
Operating Federal water projects will undergo Section 7 consultation
almost exactly as described in the "No Action" alternative. The only
difference will be that an interim flow regime will be adopted for
Blue Mesa Reservoir. Specifically, it will be operated to ensure a
2,000 cfs minimum flow below the confluence of the Gunnison and the
Colorado Rivers an average of 9 out of 10 years until Section 7
consultation was completed.
2. Habitat development and maintenance. Recovery of the rare fish could
be furthered by developing or enhancing specific habitat areas.
Untested habitat development and enhancement techniques will be
studied and applied experimentally to determine if rare fishes will
use developed habitat and if such techniques contribute to recovery.
Based on the best available knowledge at this time, major areas of
investigation will be as follows:
Backwaters are thought to provide nursery and feeding habitat for
young-of-year Colorado squawfish, and could be created by
manipulating river flow or by constructing artificial backwaters.
Available spawning habitat could be increased by improving access to
potential spawning areas in river segments that are apparently not
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