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<br />. I <br /> <br />3. FIVE YEAR FLAMING GORGE RESEARCH PLAN <br /> <br />In 1990, Reclamation originally submitted a proposal to RIP that called for <br />a cooperative-agency approach to accomplish the 5 years of research on operation <br />of FGD. A team of upper-basin researchers would design and conduct research to <br />provide data for support or refinement of flow recommendations in the Biological <br />Opinion. Research would be designed along a .systems-oriented~ approach, with <br />the Service and Reclamation coordinating annual efforts. <br />The 5 years of research in the Green River System below FGD was intended <br />to start coincident with the planned release of the Biological Opinion in 1991. <br />Initial research projects were in place in 1991, however, the Biological Opinion <br />was not issued until 1992 because of ongoing revisions from inclusion of recently <br />collected data. As a result, an initial year of research was conducted without <br />knowledge of the exact content of the Biological Opinion and without <br />implementation of the overall seasonal flow recommendations. Representatives of <br />agencies cooperating on the research team have recommended that a minimum of 5 <br />years of study on the implemented flow recommendations presented in the <br />Biological Opinion will be needed to evaluate biological and physical responses <br />of the system to the more natural hydrograph. Thus, the field investigation <br />portion of the S-year research program presented in this document is proposed to <br />begin in Fiscal -Year (FY) 1992 and terminate in FY 1996. <br /> <br />3.1. Research Program Goals and Objectives <br /> <br />GOAL: <br /> <br />Obj. 1: <br /> <br />Obj. 2: <br /> <br />Obj. 3: <br /> <br />Determine the biological and physical responses of the Green <br />River ecosystem to implemented seasonal flow recommendations <br />related to operation of FGD and develop reliable data for <br />refinement of these recommendations. <br /> <br />Track the reproductive success of endangered and other fishes <br />in the Green and Yampa rivers and determine relationships <br />between flow and spawning success of endangered and other <br />fishes-downstream of FGD. <br /> <br />Evaluate recruitment of endangered fishes from age 0 to <br />subsequent life-history stages and determine relationships <br />between seasonal flows and survival of young fish. <br /> <br />Monitor the relative abundance and population structure of <br />endangered and other fishes to acquire information on <br />interactions among fishes and on how flows may differentially <br />affect selected fish species. <br /> <br />3.2 Study Area <br /> <br />The study area (Figure 1) includes the lower Yampa River, the Green River <br />from FGD downstream to its confluence with the Colorado River, and the Colorado <br />River from its confluence with the Green River downstream to the Lake Powell <br />inflow area. Areas of particular interest, based on past research, include <br />Colorado squawfish spawning areas in the lower Yampa River and in <br />Desolation/Grays canyons on the Green River; razorback sucker spawning locations <br />in the lower Yampa River and the Green River above Jensen; Colorado squawfish <br /> <br />Flaming Gorge Studies <br /> <br />4 <br />