7815

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7815
• Author: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Title: Strategy for Determination of Habitat Requirements for the Rare Fishes of the Upper Colorado River Basin.
• USFW Year: 1988.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

habitat limitations and basic requirements are necessary as input for: flow
protection or manipulation recommendations, selected habitat development and
management measures, rearing and stocking of rare fishes, management of
nonnative fishes, and research, monitoring and validation efforts. None of the
five principal elements of the Program can be achieved without an understanding
of habitat needs and existing habitat limitations.
The Service has the responsibility for implementing the Program, and the
independent responsibility under the Endangered Species Act to ensure that the
habitat needs of the rare fishes are met and protected. Key to meeting this
mandate is adherence to an effective strategy for quantifying the habitat needs
of the fishes.
The Implementation Committee, assisted by the Management Group and the
Technical Group, is charged with overseeing the implementation of the Program.
To effectively guide research efforts, monitor progress, or evaluate results,
the Committees need to have an understanding of the process being used to
determine the habitat and flow requirements of rare fishes.
In August of 1987, a Service (Region 6 and National Ecology Research Center)
meeting was held to discuss Colorado River instream flow issues. As a result
of the meeting, the Service recognized the need to: first, better define
habitat needs and limiting factors (e.g., important variables/measures) for the
endangered fish species; and second, agree on a technically defensible (i.e.
correlates fish with habitat) approach for developing flow recommendations.
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