WSP04463

• File Number: 8460.500
• Description: Platte River Recovery Plan
• Basin: South Platte
• Date: 6/1/1997
• Author: Colo Div of Wildlife
• Title: Inventory and Status of South Platte River Native Fishes in Colorado
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Publication

CLEAR CREEK DRAINAGE - HYDROUNIT 10190q04
The Clear Creek drainage originates on the Continental Divide, west of Denver in Clear
Creek County, near the Eisenhower Tunnel ofInterstate 70. The drainage flows easterly along 1-
70, draining a historic mining area comprising roughly 571 square miles (approx. 75%
mountains/foothills and 25% plains). Clear Creek mee~s the South Platte River north of Denver,
just north ofI-76. Roughly 143 square miles encompa~sed suitable habitats for plains fishes
surveying. Poor water quality inhibits fish growth, reptoduction and survival in several reaches in
the mountains, while the plains reaches transect heavil~ populated municipalities which support
light industry, gravel mining operations, etc. .

Clear Creek is the primary watercourse in the plains portion of the drainage, while several
smaller streams drain other municipalities from the north including, but not limited to, Ralston,
Van Bibber and Little Dry creeks. Clear Creek drainage sampling stations encompassed fairly
heterogeneous habitats with substrates ranging from sUt to cobble, with little or no riparian
vegetation present.

Only two sites in Hydrounit 10190004 were i~vestigated in this sampling effort (Table
15), one lentic and one lotic, both of which had fish present. The stream site was located on Clear
Creek just east ofI-25 while the pond sits adjacent to Clear Creek, just east of Broadway and
north ofI-76. A total of 544 fish were sampled at thC;1 two survey sites (Table 16), with nine
species present. Longnose dace were the most abundant fish in Clear Creek; 293 fish were
sampled with an overall relative abundance of 53.9 pljrcent and multiple year classes were present.
Fifty-six sand shiner of different sizes were collected In the stream with a relative abundance of
10.3 percent. Fathead minnow exhibited an overall r~lative abundance of6.6 percent, and
multiple year classes made up the 36 total fish. Ofth~ six white sucker captured at the stream
sites, all were similar in size representing a relative abundance of 1.1 percent. Six juvenile
smallmouth bass sampled in the stream comprised a relative abundance of 1.1 percent. Finally,
one carp from the stream rounded out the relative abundance with 0.2 percent.

I
Ninety-one Iowa darter were collected at W~lborn Pond, while only one specimen was
sampled in Clear Creek approximately 0.5 miles do\\!nstream of the outlet of Welborn Pond
(Table 16). Multiple size classes were present in the! pond. The overall relative abundance for
this species was 16.9 percent. Multiple sizes of gre~n sunfish were sampled in both the stream
(41 fish) and pond (3 fish), for a total of 44 fish and 'relative abundance of 8.1 percent. Ten
longnose sucker from one year class, fur a relative allUndance of 1.8 percent, were captured only
in the stream site.

Welborn Pond was sampled three times; however, only data from the first survey was
included in Table 16. The other two surveys produ~ed seven and two Iowa darter, respectively.
Fathead minnow were collected in the last survey of Welborn Pond (not included in tables). This
pond was privately owned until approximately 1991, when the Colorado Department of
Transportation bought it as part of the 1-76 corridor right of way. Welborn Pond receives
nutrient-rich runoff from old landfill areas located to the west and southwest and storm runoff

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