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"One of the Ihemes I see in Ihis issue is thai finally Ihe environmelllsl considerations have a real and significant part of water resource planning in the Colorado River Ilasin. This proglam really estnblishes Ihal. It's going to be real interesting to see whethc::r or nm it will work out." Recovery Program Project !;!pdates On October I, 1988. Ihe Recovery Program began ils firsl full fiscal year of operalion, More than 40 separale research And management projects totaling about $2.3 million were included in Ihe cUlTenl fiscal year 1989 work plan, In 1988, Congress appropriated $1 million fOT acquisition of water righls 10 he used as inslream flows for rare fishes, A work plan covering the emire program for fiscal year 1990, which began October I, 1989, was approved by Ihe Implemenlalion Com- mittee in August~ and will be reponed on in the next newsletter. folluwing is a brief review of several of the projects con- tained illlhe Recovery ProgrAm's fiscal year 1990 work plan, THE STANDARDIZED MONITORING PROGRAM How do we know if we are making progress with our recovery projects for the rare Colorado Basin fishes, or if a given recovery slralegy has had a positive effecl? To address this question, biologists from the slates of UIAh and Colorado, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) began an Interagency Standardized Moniloring Program (lSMP) in 1986, The ISMP (DcuSed on determinil,g when populalions of Colorado squawtish and humpback chub in the Upper Basin are sufficiemly large and self-suslaiuing Ihat the fishes no longer need the prolection of the Endangered Species Act. lis goals: to monitor changes in the population sizes of the two fishes; to determine their response tu applied management or recovery slralegies~ and to collect datR on relationships among various environmelll81 variables nnd the relative abundance of the rare fishes, The SAmpling design, equipmenl list and sampling locations are lAid out in the ISMP Handbook The ISMPculTenlly has three components: springsampling for lale juvenile/adull squawfish: fall surveys for posl-latval ('{,Jorado sqllawfish: and hunlpback chub monitoring. Results from Ihe ISMP will be oseful in delecling long-term changes in the popuiations of the two fishes, Management decisions will be based on this information.--Jim Bennett Colorado Division of Wildlife THE MANAGEMENT OF KENNEY RESERVOIR In OCloher 1984, the Waler Users Association No, I closed the gales of the new 53-fool-high Taylor Draw Dam and began filling. Kenney Reservoir. which was designed to impound <thoU( I :1.800 acre ree::t orthe:: White River about 6 miles above I~angely. ColormJo. Because of its relatively small size. Kenney was t!lought to pose a minimal threat to the river's seasonal water temperatures or tlow palterns. excep( in ex- tremely low waler years. 4 1l1e dam did. however, present a substtlntial barrier to ll1ov~ment of native fishes. including the emJangel"ed Culu- rado squawrish. Historically. sqllnwfi~h routinely ranged up lhe \Vl1ite River 10 about Rio Blanco Reservoir. some 4:') river '. . . -.-.-- 1If~ >> '".~ ... . .-., ..~. :,'-'-;';~~~.." --...' . -.. ~ 'V ..~ -. -. 1"' 0 .~..--.. .. : > -, ~:?i1~' , ~~ 'cij . -, ."Joe' t-~~;J~ ~_.J;..": . ""...... ~ miles ~/love Taylor DrAW Dam. Adult squ8wfish winlen::u in these llpstream reaclles and Illade spawni.ng nligrati()!1s of200 miles or more to lowr.r sections of the Yalllpa River or down- slream reaches of the Green River. The Colorado Dhbon of Wildlife (CDOW) drafted a LAke Management Plan for Kenney Reservoir. It reflected concern or the CDOW Alld the f'WS over establishment or warrnwater pnx.lfHory fishes and their effects on Colorado squaw fish (Rnd other rare or endangered species) in UOWllStlea1l1 occupied habitats. By all predictions. Kenney would never support a highly productive fishery--Ihe shon growing season, cold water and marginal water quality were against it. Therefore. a study was 1I11Ckrtaken co determine iF (he warmwater fish best suited (0 this inllUspitable en\'ironlllelH lIlay well be one that evulved thel e--the Colorado sl)uawfish. The study began in 1988 with the stocking of 17,000. 3-5 inch Colorado squawtish, In sprillg 1989,35.000 similar-sized fish were slocked, and "I' 10 5U,lll~) will be stocked in 1990, Ongoing studies will d~ternline their survival. growlh And whelllt"1 they lelllain in the reservuir. After a few years. attempts would also be made to determine if squR\.\'fish llfe as suiwble for angling tiS we now believe. and if tisheflllen will al:Cepl them as a sport species. Trout will be strx:keu inlolhe lake Juring Ihe stol:killg/evaluntioll (0 maimain 1.I ll::asonable