9705 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

GREEN RIVER STUDY PLAN 3 February 2, 2007 The Study Plan and Flaming Gorge Dam operations are but one part of the program to achieve species recovery in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Results from studies recommended in this Study Plan would be used to evaluate and, if deemed appropriate, potentially revise the flow and temperature recommendations in a manner consistent with an adaptive-management approach. Such revisions approved by the Service and the Recovery Program could be implemented directly into the annual operating plan or could require a more formal regulatory process requiring National Environmental Policy Act or Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance. 1.2 Authority and Guidance Documents 1.2.1 Authoritv Documents The following describes each of the "authority" documents that led to the development of this Study Plan, and the principal anticipated effects or uncertainties associated with implementation of the flow and temperature recommendations identified by each document. Green River Flow and Temperature Recommendations In 2000, the Recovery Program issued Flow and Temperature Recommendations for Endangered Fishes in the Green River Downstream of Flaming Gorge Dam (Muth et al. 2000). The purpose of that report was to assess flow-habitat relationships of Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha), razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), and bonytail (Gila elegans), and refme flow and temperature recommendations specified in the 1992 Final Biological Opinion on the Operation of Flaming Gorge Dam (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1992). Recommendations presented in that report were intended to address recovery elements identified by the Recovery Program. Information on each endangered fish species was used to develop integrated flow and temperature recommendations for the Green River downstream of the dam. The overall goal of the flow and temperature recommendations was to "Provide the seasonal and annual patterns of flow and temperature in the Green River that .enhance populations of the endangered fishes." Objectives ofthe recommendations were to: 1. ''provide appropriate conditions that allow gonadal maturation and environmental cues for spawning movements and reproduction; 2. form low-velocity flooded habitats for pre-spawning staging and post-spawning feeding and resting areas; 3. inundate floodplains and other off-channel habitats at the appropriate time and for an adequate duration to provide warm, food-rich environments for fish growth and conditioning and to provide river-jloodplain connections for the restoration of natural ecosystem processes;