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000880 Pitts: Endangered Fish Recovery, cant. COrllinu~d from Page 3 ofCOI1gress haYC said thai Lhcyapp~clatethc locaIcffon [0 resolve tb:~ problems and the pro~ss bc:Ulg made by the Program 1brough FY 2001. Congress appropriated S52 mlUion for the Program. In summary. the Progr:un worts because il worts for a1lofthepanlclpan~. TAl Fumrr One of the fundamenw goals of the ReeDY!:!')' Program is 10 recover the four endan~ered fish specIes in the UpperCoJorado River BaSin. The emphasis IS nollo' on PERFORMANCE. The prim;uy Prognun aClivmes o...cr the: ne~t several yean; Will include complelion of facllilll:s conSITIICllon. fishSlockmg. nonnative fish control. habitat deveJopmcnt. and monlloring 10 measure attammenl of recovery goals. These actIVities &Ie largely funded by the felXral and SlIle !!-ovClTUllCnls, and power revc:nues. Water usen; pay a ~ dcplcuon fer on new projCCIS (SI5.25/acR:' fom for 2002). ProjectS c.mung as of January. 1988 pay ncrees. The Recovery Program will conlinue allboUl us pre- sent leve] of activiTy until about :!OO8. At thai pOlMl. all the majorhabltal developmenl and facilitiescOnSlTUCtlOn should be eompleted. SloclUng of bonytail and razorback sucker mlY continue for I fe.... more YICal':5. After 2008. the Program should go into a monltonng and response mode 10 measure progren towards achlevmg ~covery goals. and 10 adjust ~covery me:l!.UreS based on the responseoftheend:rngeredfisli ron~lrtlrtlon' Conslrucllon of faCllmes wll] likely be finished sometime belween 2005 and 2008. The5C faellllies include ELkhead Resel"Yoll modific;:11lOnslupan- sions. fish passages. fish 5crecns. and h;:Ilchcry faciliues. Fish plssal!es have becn complelcd ~t Redlands Diversion on the Gunnl~on River and al the Grand V.aJley lrril!i1110n Company Diversion near Grand Junction. AdditionaJ fish pasnges an: expeCled 10 be conslrUCted "" the Pnce.Stubb diversion near Grand JunctIon and the Government Highline (Roller Dam) Diversion ill the' upso-eam lerminlJ.'i of the 15-mlle re3Ch near Grand Junction. The need for poSSible fish passage OIl the Hanland Diversion on the Gunmson River IS beinl eva!. ualed. Fish SC1"eens are being mstalledal maJor dlverslOfls to prevent entrairunent of endange~d fish. A fish screen IS hemg mstaJled II Recovery Progr21Tl expense: It the Gnmd V.aJ]~-lmgltion Company Diversion. Fish screens will likely be ~uired on the Redl;l.flds Diversion (Gunnison River), and Tusher W~h Diversion (Green RIver), and lI-.e Goverr.menl H,ghhne (Roller Dam\ Diversion. as well ~ the reconstructed Eikhead ReservOIr On the Yampa. W..lpr lt1.1ln....pm..nl. By 1006. most ....aler manage. menl activioes 10 benelit the emi1ngered species will be Ifl pl;u:e. The effecllvenen of Wiler m.lJ1agemenl acuvI- l:ies cxpandmg endangered fish populations will conlin~ to be evaluated. Conunued modlficauon of ope~ions ba.sed on monllonng R:sull-S will likely continue through 10 at least 2010. Mler 2010 more SLlble operauon-; will continue for the indefUUle furoR 10 order 10 mamwn the habiLllthallsconlributlngloTeCOvery. The Grand Valley WaJer Managemenl ProJectl~ near complenon. This projecl includes a 'iCnes of control Sll'UCtu~s 10 the 3D.mlle long Grand Valley Canal that iIilo.... more efficienl uliliz.anon of Wiler. The "'a1er saved will be Stored in Green Mounla.1J1 ReservolI and ~leased for laIC swnmer flo.... enhancemenl 10 the 15-ml]e re.:l(;li for the benefit ofendangere.d fish Feder.tl and non-FederaJ parties are partiClPaling m voluntar). re-operanon ot rc:servOIrl.. In 1999. these par- lies delivered 63.000 acre-feel of Wiler 10 enhance peak flows m the 15-mile resch on the Colorado RI"er. .....Ith no Impairment ofresel"JOlry,elds. F1ammg Gorge Rescl"Joll On Ihe Green River III Utah isbeingre-<Jpc:raled tobeneftt the endanlered fish. Flow ~--- Box 2 "Tht: Uppt:1" Basin Rt:coVt:I"Y Plan: The restoration of endangered fish populalions in the uppcr Basin IS an ongoing success SIOI')'. On Oclobt:r 30th. Presldem Climon SIgned leglsl~llon selling iR place long-tenn funding based on cost-sharing for lh~ Uppe-r Color3do and San JU.:lt1 Rl\"er Rrco~'e'~ ImplemenranOt1 Programs." BruCl' Babbilr. Stcrtlary of IJrt Inurior (Colorado Ri\'~r Wart"r Usus Association. Dtumbtr 2{J(J()J "The Upper Basin and San Juan Recovery Programs are not ....ithout flaws. but they are aChll:"'ln!lthC' goals of !he Endangered Species ACl whllt: avoiding conflicts with other federal and state hi""" This is lruly a rt:markable achievement. Indeed. Congress and the federal agencies ,ould bene lit b~' clln..id- ering these programs as examples of ho"" the Endangered Spe'les Act should be implemented." Rtprtun/af/l'(' hm Hanun (R-UtaJrJ ChaIrman. Rt50urctS Commilru U.S. Houu of Rtprt'unlaril't'! (Forum for A.pplit'd Rt'reorcJr and Public Policy. Spring, 2001) Box 3: Rp.{'o\'erv Pro~ram Members: F f!dual A "~nci~s Slates U.S. Fish and Wildlife Semee Colorado Nallonal Park Service Utah Bureau of Reclamauon Wyoming Western Area Power Administr3tion Inler~ft GroUI1J W~ler users (Colorado. Ulah. Wyommg) Environmentalorgamzations Colorado River Energy Dlstnbutors Association ./ Each member has one vole ./ Pl"ogram operales by unanimous con!l;pnO;IIS Box 4 Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program Summary of Section 7 Consullations by Slate (1/111988 through 6/1/2001) HISTOR IC DEPLETIONS NEW DEPLETIONS TOTALS Number of Project Consult:uions Aere-feet/yr Aert:-feeuyr Acre.(eet/yr SUle Colorado 185 Utah ZS Wyommg 32 Basinwide small 1.024.831.44 134.275.82 1.159,107.26 -121.867.74 65,793.95 487.661.69 3,889.73 16.437.68 ::!D.J77.41 0,00 6.000.00 6.000.00 1.450,588.91 222,557.45 1.673.146.36 proJeCTS TOTALS 382 627 ~ommencbllons for lhe GunniSOn are under diSCUSSIOn. When the flow n::commendallons are finalized. the Aspmall proJCCI will be re-<IpCT'aled to benefil endangered fish, afler developmenl of UI environmenlill impact swe- merll on re"""peralion scenanos. The E1S is hkely fO ule three 10 four years. Elkhead Reservmr will be reconstruw:d 10 provide about 3.700 acre.feel/year of .....aler forendangerc:d !ish to mee'l lale summer flo....s, and about 5JXXl acre.feet/year for human needs. g:reaierchanccforsulVlv.l..l. FishsuxklngwiJlbefOCUSCd on the bonytall and razorbadr. sucker. as These popu]atlons are dc:pleted in the Upper Bum. Razorbacksuckernock- ing wlllmclude approl1Jl1alely 100.000 10 150.000 fish m the Color.ulo. Gunmson. and Green nvers. Bonywl ~loclUng WIll likely include: about 300,000 fish m the YWlpa.. Coloma. U1d Green nvers. Major mx:kmg effons for the bcmytail and razorback su,ker Will hkely conllnue 10 somewhere belween 2008 and 2012. Pikemmno.... populauons ....1l1 nOl need much augmenla- lion. An eSllmated 6.000 10 10.000 Colorado plkeminnow ....111 be stocked U1lhe Colol1ldo River and Gurmison River. Humpback chub populalions will oot need 10 augmenled 10 ach,eve recovery. Fi~h ~Ir..-kinl" Through October 2001. appn:llIn'1ale- Iy 110.000 bonytads have been slocked JJl the UppcT Basin and ~bout 193.000 razorbaclt.: sucker have been ~locked. Moslofthesc rlshhave beenslocked inlhe IISI three to four ye~ Halchery construCllon is neanng complc:uon Major facllmes have been developed It Ouray Nlllon.l..l Wildlife Refuge near Vernal. Wahweap m south~m Utah. and;1I Gr.lIld Juncllon. Larger Clldange~d fish will be stocked thai: have '" Monilnring' Moniloring programs 10 monitor the effectiveness of stocking, .....ILer management. lish pas- sages, hlbitat developmenL and nonoallve control ....i11 Corlllnutd on Pagt 5 ~~~~~~~ ----- -- .....-..;;.- -- -- - -