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<br />" I <br />) <br /> <br />OOO~S9 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Table 9 <br />Incidental Benefits from the Mitigation Plan <br /> <br />Waterfowl production <br />(ducks/yr) <br /> <br />Hunter-days/season <br /> <br />Annual <br />net benefits <br /> <br />Alamosa <br />San Luis Lake <br />Russell Lakes <br />Total <br /> <br />7,472 <br />895 <br />2,565 <br />10,962 <br /> <br />1,288 <br />155 <br />447 <br />1,890 <br /> <br />$ 12,236 <br />1,473 <br />4,246 <br />$ 17,955 <br /> <br />In addition to the incidental benefits derived from the increased waterfowl <br />production, the additional water and associated wetlands will help in the manage- <br />ment of birds that are of high Federal interest. These birds which are found on <br />the Alamosa NWR and may also be found on Blanca WHA, Head and San Luis Lakes, <br />and Russell Lakes include the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, long-billed curlew, <br />great blue heron, greater sandhill crane, whooping crane, and the western grebe. <br />The bald eagle, whooping crane, and the peregrine falcon are also on the Federal <br />list of endangered species. <br /> <br />V. Enhancement <br /> <br />In addition to the mitigation and the incidental benefits realized from the <br />mitigation plan, the project would result in substantial enhancement to the fish <br />and wildlife resources of the San Luis Valley. The enhancement features are shown <br />in table 10 and briefly described below. <br /> <br />A. Head Lake and Associated Wetlands <br /> <br />Approximately 700 acres of wetlands at Head Lake and the area between Head and <br />San Luis Lakes will be developed and maintained by the use of 6 ft3/s of project <br />water delivered into Head Lake. The State of Co1oardo has agreed to replace <br />increased evaporation and seepage losses caused by this development. This <br />development would increase waterfowl production by about 1,344 ducks per year <br />and hunter-days by 232. Net benefits associated with this increase would amount <br />to $2,204 annually. Wildlife-oriented recreation would also increase by about <br />1,000 use-days/season with net benefits of about $2,000 annually. <br /> <br />B. San Luis Lake <br /> <br />San Luis Lake would be stabilized at 890 surface acres. The lake would support a <br />high quality combination cold-warm water fishery. In addition to the general <br />recreation uses, the lake would support about 40,000 fisherman-days use annually <br />with net benefits of about $100,000. <br /> <br />16 <br />