Price-Stubbs Fish Passage: Final Environmental Assessment, Finding of No Significant Impact

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Final Environmental Assessment — Chapter 1— Introduction Purpose: Purposes of the Price -Stubb Fish Passage are to further the goals and progress of the Recovery Program. - Actions taken should be cost effective, timely, and complement related actions to help restore native fish populations and protect existing and planned rights and uses affected by the project. Related Recovery Program actions include stocking endangered fish, controlling nonnative fish species, acquiring and restoring floodplain habitat, and protecting instream flows. - Actions taken should protect potentially affected uses of Colorado River water including: providing municipal, domestic and irrigation water to residents of the Grand Valley; hydroelectric power development at the dam site; and river recreation. Actions taken should also protect use of the river canyon as a transportation corridor. - The choice among alternatives should ensure costs to the Recovery Program are as low as possible while considering benefits to the endangered fishes. Background Information Endangered Fishes— Appendix A to the GVIC EA summarized information from many studies completed on the endangered fish, their habitat, their behavior, and factors that led to the decline and listing of the species under the Endangered Species Act. These studies have increased our understanding of actions needed to recover the fish (establish self - sustaining populations) throughout the Upper Colorado River Basin. Critical habitat has been designated for the Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker and includes the 100 -year floodplain of the Colorado River from Lake Powell in Utah to Rifle, Colorado. The Colorado pikeminnow is now absent from its historic range in the river from the Price -Stubb Diversion Dam to Rifle, and razorback suckers are now extremely rare throughout the Upper Colorado River Basin. Providing upstream access past all three man -made diversion dams is needed to restore use of historical habitat to endangered fish species. Habitat Availability Upstream —One factor that has led to the decline of native fish is loss of historic habitat. In 1997, the Colorado Division of Wildlife assessed the aquatic habitat available to endangered fish species in about 50 miles of river upstream from the three diversion dams (Palisade to Rifle). Runs (deep, moving water) and pools are excellent feeding and wintering areas for both Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker, and comprise 49 to 70 percent of the available habitat in various sections of the river. Seventy -six pools larger than 80 square -feet were documented in Anderson's fall survey (Anderson, 1997). Providing passage at the Price -Stubb Diversion Dam would open approximately 50 miles of suitable habitat upstream to help recover these endangered fishes. • 3