9549

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9549
• Author: Bestgen, K. R., K. A. Zelasko, R. I. Compton and T. Chart.
• Title: Response of the Green River Fish Community to Changes in Flow Temperature Regimes from Flaming Gorge Dam since 1996 based on sampling conducted from 2002 to 2004.
• USFW Year: 2006.
• USFW - Doc Type: 115,
• Copyright Material: NO

Goal. Characterize the humpback chub Gila cypha population in Whirlpool Canyon.
Objective 11. Gather preliminary information to describe the distribution, relative
abundance, and size structure of Gila spp. in Whirlpool Canyon through the fish
community sampling methodologies.
Objective 12. Characterize morphology of the Gila spp. collected in Whirlpool
Canyon (Douglas et al. (1989; 1998).
Objective 13. Develop program to monitor the humpback chub population in
Whirlpool Canyon.
STUDY AREA
The Green River Basin drains mountainous and high desert portions of southern
Wyoming, eastern Utah, and northwestern Colorado (Fig. 1) and is the largest tributary of the
Colorado River. The study area encompassed the Green and Yampa rivers in and above
Dinosaur National Monument and included highly regulated and regulation-attenuated river
reaches. The Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam downstream to near Jensen, Utah, was the
primary focus of the study. The river below Flaming Gorge Dam flows for 22 km through Red
Canyon, enters the 48-km-long low gradient Browns Park valley, and then flows for 32 km
through high-gradient Lodore Canyon before entering Echo Park at the Yampa River confluence
From Echo Park, the Green River flows 18 km mostly through Whirlpool Canyon, another i 1
km through Island-Rainbow Park, and another 13 km through Split Mountain Canyon before
emerging into the alluvial Uintah Basin valley reach near Jensen.
Extent of river meandering (river plan form) and habitat types in the major reaches of
river are controlled by local geology. In Lodore, Whirlpool, and Split Mountain canyons the
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