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<br />12 <br /> <br />Only two Colorado squawfish confirmed spawning sites have been located 1n the <br />Upper Bas;n--RH 16.5 of the Vampa River and RH 156.6 of the Green River. These <br />areas have the common characteristics of coarse cobble or boulder substrates <br />that form rapids or riffles associated with deeper pools or eddies. It 1s <br />believed that this combination of habitats and a stable, clean substrate is <br />necessary for spawning and incubation. Substrates are swept clean of finer <br />sediments by high flows during spring runoff scouring the bed prior to the <br />spawning period. Suitable spawning habitats appear to be present throughout <br />the portion of the San Juan River inhabited by Colorado squawfish. <br /> <br />O'Brien (1984) studied the hydraulic and sediment transport dynamics of the <br />cobble bar within the Vampa River spawning site and duplicated some of its <br />characteristics in a laboratory flume study. Based on field observations. he <br />reported: <br /> <br />On the rising limb of the hydrograph, sands are deposited in the <br />cobble interstices. These sands are interchanged between the bed <br />and the suspended zone for discharges less than bankfull. <br />Depending on the supply-capacity relationship, either deposition <br />or scour could be occurring. When the cobbles move, the sand. of <br />course, is washed from the interstices and may be completely <br />removed from around the cobbles. Rearrangement of the cobbles <br />will result in more stability of the armor layer. On the falling <br />limb, the armor layer becomes a trap for sands until, finally, the <br />sand reservoir is again filled. Without cobble movement, sand <br />will be scoured only to a depth of one-half to one median cobble <br />diameter below the cobble bed surface. <br /> <br />In the flume experiments, the sand level was observed <br />a~proximate1y one-half to one cobble diameter below the surface of <br />the cobble bed, which compared to field observations of sand depth <br />at approximately one-half to one median cobble diameter. O'Brien <br />reported a cobble size range of 50 to 100 mm with a median size of <br />75 mm at the spawning site. Hilhous (19B2) reported that <br />discharges of approximately one-half that required to initiate <br />cobble movement would be capable of extracting sands and fines <br />from the cobble substrate. Thus. after the supply of sand <br />diminishes, flows of sufficient magnitude and duration are <br />required to scour the cobble bed in preparation for spawning and <br />incubation. <br /> <br />Although the location of spawning areas in the San Juan River are not well <br />defined, the capture of young-of-year specimens in 1987 and 1988 documents that <br />successful Colorado squawfish reproduction does occur when conditions are <br />favorable (Platania 1990). Miller et a1, (1982) and Archer et al. (1986) <br />demonstrated that Colorado squawfish often migrate considerable distances to <br />spawn in the Green and Vampa Rivers and similar movement has been noted in the <br />mainstem San Juan River. A fish captured and tagged in the San Juan Arm of <br />Lake Powell in April 1987 was later recaptured in the San Juan River <br />approximately 90 miles upstream in September 1987. <br />