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<br />001586 <br /> <br />EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br /> <br />The Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) initiated a 7-year research period in 1991 for the endangered <br />Colorado pikemirmow and razorback sucker in the San Juan River of New Mexico, Colorado, and <br />Utah in response to a Biological Opinion on the Animas-LaPlata Project. This research became . .J.- <br />part of the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program (SJRIP) formed later in 19S1L 0; ~b <br />by a group of agencies including: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS); Bureau;'Bureau <br />ofIndian Affairs (BIA); states of New Mexico and Colorado; Jicarilla-Apache, Ute Mountain Ute, <br />and Southern Ute Indian Tribes; and San Juan River Basin water development interests. The <br />Bureau of Land Management and the Navajo Nation joined the program later. The goals of the <br />SJRIP were to conserve populations of the two endangered fish in the San Juan River consistent <br />with the recovery goals established under the Endangered Species Act and proceed with water <br />development in accordance with applicable laws and Indian trust responsibilities, From 1991 to <br />1997, the SJRIP conducted over 25 biological, physical, and chemical studies of the San Juan <br />River. Management actions, including stocking endangered fishes and planning barrier removal t <br />(water diversion structures), were also initiated. Many studies focused on determining the effects <br />of reoperating Navajo Dam to mimic a natural hydrograph on the fishes and their habitat. <br />Reoperation involved releasing higher spring flows and lower late summer, fall, and winter flows <br />than had been released since Navajo Dam's completion in 1962. This report summarizes the <br />findings of those studies and how they relate to recovery of the two endangered species in the San <br />Juan River and provides the basis for setting the future direction of the SJRIP. <br /> <br />The SJRIP accomplished most of the objectives it set during the 7-year research period. Life <br />history and habitat information on the native fish community were gathered and key habitats <br />determined. Physical studies ddined habitat availability and quality in the San Juan River and, <br />along with biological habitat use information, were used to develop flow recommendations. The <br />flow recommendations provided for continuing water development in the San Juan Basin without <br />harming the endangered fish species, a goal of the SJRIP. Other limiting factors, such as fish <br />health, normative species interactions, water quality, and contaminants, were investigated and th~ <br />importance was clarifie<!, Experimental augmentation was initiated for both endangered fish <br />species, and augmentation of razorback sucker beJm.n. These efforts resulted in the establishmellt <br />of a razorback sucker population that is reproducing in the river and a Colorado pikemirmow <br />p~tion increase from about 2u Wild adults to 2erhaps as many as several hundred subadults <br />~nd lar~juveniles._~tions related to spawning and the larval stllgLuf either of the ) --j" D(, <br />ep.dangered fishes~re not studied because of the low l'opulation levels, These two life history <br />stages will be easier to study as adult populations increase, more spawning occurs, and more larvae <br />become available in the river. 1}:1eprimarv obiectives the SJRIP did not meet were developm~l1~ \ <br />~rim population goals for the two ~ecies and development of a public information @.d 1'-' 0,-, <br />e~tion progr~m Emphasis on these areas increased in 1998 and 1999, with initiation of a <br />bioenergetics study to determine interim population levels and development and implementation <br />of an Information and Education program. Although recovery ofthe endangered fish species still <br /> <br />September 2000 <br /> <br />S-1 <br /> <br />Program Evaluation Report <br />