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PRRIP—ED OFFICE DRAFT 06/13/2014 <br /> 226 Marmorek: debate will continue until the program creates in-channel habitat <br /> 227 8. Are you suggesting that we should do something different with the islands? Aren't you violating the <br /> 228 adaptive management agreement? <br /> 229 9. Do you need to take snow levels into account when determining size of the sandbar to build? <br /> 230 10. Farnsworth: we have been trying to put the paired design in the river. However, timing is really <br /> 231 challenging. We can only build in Aug-Nov, but then the next high flow kills off the islands (2013) <br /> 232 or too dry (2012). Building Aug-Nov only works if there is a lowish peak in June AND there is <br /> 233 enough water remaining when birds are nesting. <br /> 234 11. Has all the historical information been collected? <br /> 235 Smith: yes, we now have a chapter about tern and plover historical use on the river. We also <br /> 236 have a chapter describing the nesting that has occurred on the river. <br /> 237 Farnsworth: we are writing a chapter where we describe every nest that has survived along the <br /> 238 river. <br /> 239 12. Does the AMP allow us to change how we build habitat? Do we have this flexibility? <br /> 240 Smith: GC can decide what they want us to do. Do you want to spend resources building things <br /> 241 that the data suggest that the river cannot do itself? Is so, then you are doing the way of the fully <br /> 242 mechanical strategy. <br /> 243 13. Is MCM a hypothesis in the AMP? <br /> 244 Smith: yes <br /> 245 14. You've got to build the islands every year. <br /> 246 Marmorek: there are different kinds of islands with different costs. GC needs to decide which <br /> 247 one is acceptable given costs and benefits? <br /> 248 15. Should we build concrete sandboxes? Barges? <br /> 249 16. Farnsworth: We got off topic. We need to focus on the question: do birds prefer or do better on <br /> 250 channel or off channel habitat? <br /> 251 17. BQ7: If you have off-channel habitat and it is maintaining the population, isn't that sufficient? Key <br /> 252 idea: necessary to maintain. <br /> 253 18. Schroeder: for a species to survive long term, do you need both on and off channel? If ESA <br /> 254 protection goes away,will off-channel habitat be maintained? That's why we need to answer BQ7. <br /> 255 19. Missing idea: sustainability of habitat. We only focus on sustainability of population. <br /> 256 Marmorek: that's what Farnsworth's papers look at. <br /> 257 20. Continued discussion about whether the habitat is sustainable—both off and on-channel. <br /> 258 21. Schneider: Irony here. The river isn't regulated enough. If we had a few more big reservoirs, we <br /> 259 could time this. I'm not arguing for this, but we don't have enough space to make the right kinds of <br /> 260 flows happen. <br /> 261 Farnsworth: need to shift the hydrology to make it more like the Niobrara or the Missouri River. <br /> 262 In the 1800's the peak happened after the 2"d week of June. <br /> 263 22. Going forward the river is going to have more flash floods and uncontrollable flows. Because of this, <br /> 264 effort should be focused on off-channel habitat. <br /> PRRIP June 10-11,2014 GC Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 11 <br />