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<br />0010J7 <br /> <br />tagged Colorado pikeminnow in the San Juan River near Farmington, New Mexico. The third <br />study reviewed water quality information and addressed Objective 5 of the 7- year research plan. <br />While this review lasted only I year, studies of water quality and contaminants became a much <br />larger part of the SJRIP in 1994, when several studies were initiated. <br /> <br />The USFWS (Albuquerque) investigated environmental contaminants in river biota. The study <br />lasted 2 years and covered the entire study area. The National Biological Survey (now the U.S. <br />Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division [USGS-BRD]) was contracted to conduct hazard <br />assessment studies ofthe toxicity of irrigation return waters to larval endangered and native fishes. <br />This study lasted 2 years. The BLM, which had joined the SJRIP because of a Consultation on oil <br />and gas leasing in the San Juan Basin, investigated oil and gas contamination, including potential <br />sources and routes to the river. This study continued through the remainder ofthe 7-year research <br />period. <br /> <br />In 1994, experimental stocking of razorback sucker was initiated by the USFWS (Grand Junction) <br />to determine habitat needs (Objective 4). This was the first research study to address Objective 7, <br />testing management options, because it used hatchery-reared fish and tested razorback sucker <br />stocking. The study was initiated because no wild razorback sucker was found in the river during <br />adult monitoring studies. <br /> <br />Another component of the physical and hydrological studies being conducted by Keller-Bliesner <br />Engineering was added in 1994. This study of habitat quality in mainstream riffles and runs <br />throughout the study area addressed Objective 2 and provided a comparison of productivity <br />between various portions of the San Juan River, as well as a comparison with similar habitats in <br />the Colorado River. <br /> <br />Thus, by 1994, major studies addressing all ofthe original objectives of the 7-year research plan <br />were implemented. Study designs continued to evolve during this period, and substudies within <br />core studies were added. For example, studies of fish movement in and out of secondary channels <br />were added to the nonnative fishes study in 1994; the evaluation of fish movement around water <br />diversion dams between Farmington, New Mexico, and the Hogback Diversion, part of the adult <br />monitoring study, was expanded in 1996. <br /> <br />In 1995, the major research activity added to the SJRIP was mechanical removal of all nonnative <br />fishes, which was part of the nonnative fishes interactions study conducted by the USFWS <br />(Albuquerque). This study resulted in collectors removing all channel catfish, common carp, and <br />other nonnative fishes that were collected during the various studies from the river, rather than <br />returning them to the river along with the native fishes. In addition, a study of backwater habitat <br />quality and productivity was added to the BIA studies conducted by Keller-Bliesner Engineering. <br />A variety of physical and biological parameters were measured in backwaters throughout the study <br />area and compared with information from the Green and Colorado rivers. <br /> <br />September 2000 <br /> <br />2-10 <br /> <br />Program Evaluation Report <br />