WSP04305 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

01868 (Bureau of Reclamation and others 2003) on a proposed modification to remove non- native fish from the Colorado River in an expanded area downstream of the confluence with the Little Colorado River (LCR), The Service (2003b) concurred with a finding of no jeopardy on the expanded non-native fish action in August 2003, Activities to remove non-native fish from the expanded area (river mile 56,2 to 72,7) were thus incorporated into future non-native removal efforts (Coggins and others 2002), Implicit in the experimental flows and mechanical removal proposed action is the recognition that modification of dam operations alone likely is insufficient to achieve objectives of the GCDAMP, which include removal of jeopardy from HBC and razorback sucker, Mechanical removal of non-native fish from the Colorado River above and below the LCR was started in January 2003 (Coggins and others 2002, Coggins and Yard 2003) and is continuing in 2004, Nononative suppression releases from Glen Canyon Dam were implemented from January to March 2003 to test the effectiveness of high fluctuating flows on limiting the recruitment of nononative fish (Davis and Batham 2003, Korman and others 2003), The high fluctuating flows for nononative suppression also are being continued in 2004, Rogers and others (2003a) evaluated the abundance and distribution of nononative salmonids related to the mechanical removal efforts, In October 2003, GCMRC convened a science symposium that was largely directed at presentation of results from the low summer steady flows (LSSF) research and monitoring, The results of this work are available at [online] http://www,qcmrc,qov/ svmposium/2003/svm after/ svmposium,htm!. Trammel and others (2002) and Korman and others (2003) reported on the effects of experimental flows on HBC, STATUS OF ELEMENT 1,A Onqoinq, Although several experimental releases have been conducted under the auspices of the GCDAMP. the program of experimental flows identified in the RPA is not yet completed, The longer than anticipated periOd for developing this program is attributable largely to its being made a part of the adaptive management process, Reclamation believes that the longoterm experimental plan being developed as part of the GCDAMP, which will include a program of experimental flows as required by this element of the RPA, will be much improved by the incorporation of scientific results from investigations conducted as part of the adaptive management program, A draft of the longoterm experimental plan is due to be delivered to AMWG by August 2004 and a completed plan has been requested by January 2005 with compliance to be completed by July 2005, As indicated, the longoterm experimental plan will include actions other than experimental releases from Glen Canyon Dam, Other components being discussed include the proposed temperature control device. mechanical removal of non-native fishes in the Colorado River and selected tributaries, translocation of endangered HBC to tributaries following nononative fish suppression, and turbidity/sediment augmentation, As part of the conservation measures agreed to by the federal action agencies, the Service is engaged in HBC translocation efforts in the LCR above Chute Faits on the Navajo Reservation (Stone and Sponholtz,2003), Subsequent monitoring of the translocated fish occurred in October 2003 with additional monitoring planned for spring 2004, If this experiment is successful, it may provide a viable action for expanding HBC distribution within the LCR and lead the way to similar actions in other tributaries, Currently, nononative removal is occurring in Bright Angel Creek (Leibfried and others 2003) and the feasibility of extending this work to other tributaries to the Colorado River 4