Public Meeting on Critical Habitat for Colorado River Fish

Home Browse Search

Q. What activities will be restricted in the 100 -year flood plain? A. The boundaries for critical habitat have been defined'as areas within the 100 -year flood plain. But not all land within the 100 -year flood plain is considered "critical." To be considered critical, the area must provide one or more of what are called "constituent elements," such as water needed for each life stage of the fish; physical habitat needed for spawning, nursery, feeding and rearing; and factors in the biological environment such as food supply, predation and competition. In general, these areas include inundated flood plains, wooded bottom lands, side and secondary channels, oxbow lakes and flood plain wetlands. Areas within the 100 -year flood plain that previously have been developed are not likely to provide constituent elements when flooded. So in most cases, if an area has already been developed, it will not be considered critical habitat. Only Federal actions within the flood plain are affected by critical habitat designation. Q. Where do I get maps of the 100 -year flood plain? A. Maps have not been completed for all areas. The Colorado Water Conservation Board is working to compile an index of existing flood plain maps by July 1. The Recovery Program has given the Board $20,000 to produce maps this year of the 40- and 100 -year flood plains for high priority parts of critical habitat. For information on areas that have been mapped, you can contact one of the following agencies: -- Federal Emergency Management Agency in Maryland at (800) 358 -9616. -- Colorado Water Conservation Board in Denver at 866 -3441. Q. Why does critical habitat use a 100 -year flood plain while the non - native fish stocking policy uses a 40 -year flood plain? A. The Service determined that the chances of a flood reaching the 40 -year flood plain were low enough that stocking certain fish species such as large mouth bass, bluegill and crappie could occur outside the 40 -year flood plain. Critical habitat uses the 100 -year flood plain to ensure all flood plain habitat that provides "constituent elements" is included and to use a definitive boundary that has high recognition due to its use in flood plain regulation. Q. What is the rationale for using such a large area as the 100 -year flood plain -- an area that by definition floods only about every century -- as critical habitat for endangered fish? A. The 100 -year flood plain provided the only boundary that the Fish and Wildlife Service could be sure would encompass all "constituent elements" of endangered fish critical habitat -- water, physical habitat and factors in the biological environment.