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. 8~~. 10i9 -en GO ';"'--4 v-j --;) (,;) Fish and Wildlife Hitigation and Enhancement Plan Closed Basin Division, San Luis Valley Project, Colorado This report provides a revised plan to mitigate project-caused losses to wildlife and wildlife habitat from the construction and operation of the Closed Basin Division, San Luis Valley Project, Colorado. Heasures to enhance fish and wildlife resources are also included. The man-days use and monetary benefits associated with the enhancement features are provided. This document has been prepared with cooperation from the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Water and Power Resources Service (Water and Power), Bureau of Land ~funagement (BLM) , and the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDW). The above agencies have all expressed their informal concurrence with the revised mitigation plan. I. Existing Project Conditions A detailed environmental description of the Closed Basin project area is contained in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FES 79-37 August 27, 1979). However, for the sake of completeness, we provide the following brief description of wetlands, waterfowl production, and other bird use in the project area. It should be remembered throughout the following discussion that our prime considerations in developing this plan were: (1) replacement of wetlands impacted by the project on an acre-for-acre basis; (2) replacement of the habitat value of acreS of vegetation adversely impacted by the project; (3) replacement of waterfowl production and other water bird use losses caused by the project; and (4) enhancement of the fish and wildlife resources in and immediately adja- cent to the project area. A. Waterfowl Production Several factors are critical to duck production: (1) availability and quantity of water for breeding pairs, (2) availability of water to sustain brood survival, and (3) quantity and quality of nesting cover. In the San Luis Valley, factors (1) and (2) operate to limit duck production. Availability and quan- tity of water has been well documented as necessary for attracting breeding pairs. There is a very high correlation between the number of water areas available during spring migration and local breeding populations (Schroeder 1959, Stewart and Kantrud 1974, Schroeder et al. 1976). Although numbers of ponds, regardless of permanency, are important in attracting breeding pairs, availability of mid-season water areas and juxta- position of those areas are critical to brood survival. Areas with temporary and seasonal wetlands that attract breeding pairs but do not have mid-season water for brooding act as death traps. Within the Closed Basin project area, drain ditches serve as extremely important brood areas. In recent years, changing irrigation methods have reduced available mid-season water and breeding pair habitat resulting in decreased duck production. However, the San Luis Valley is still the most important waterfowl production' area in Colorado and 1