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<br />, , <br /> <br />Second fisbpassageway builtin Grand Valley <br /> <br />, , , <br /> <br />The Grand Valley: Irrigation <br />. Coinpany has comp,leted inodifica; <br />tions to 'its, diversion dam on the <br />Colorado. River just ,upstream of <br />Palisade, Colo" toimprove habitat for: <br />endangered fish. . . <br />Before ,these, modifications, were <br />. made, fish -were unable io access .to ' <br />upstream, teaches of the -river during' ' <br />low flows. Completion of the,project <br />has given native and endangered fish ' <br />. year-round access 'to an additional <br />.three miles of Colorado River habitat. . <br />. The dam is the oldest major irriga- <br />tion project in the Grand Vaile)', nav- <br />ingg'oneinto operation in 1883.' ,. . . . <br />The first fish passageway was com- <br />pleted in 1996, at, the R:edlands <br />, Diversion Dam, This ladder has been <br />used by 42 endangered fish and more . <br />than 26,000 other native fish, . <br />The Grand 'Valley, Irrigation <br />, Company completed the project ahead <br />of schedule and below budget. The. <br />. final ~ost Was. $590,000, nearly <br />$200,000 . below preliminary esti- . <br />mates~ Funding for the project was <br />provided through the Upper Colorado. <br />RiverEndangered Fish Recovery <br />Program, ' <br />Construction required making a. <br />notch in the exisiiIig dam and arrang- <br />ing large rocks in the. downstream <br />river channel in a 475-footzigiag pat- <br />tern, The' configuration simullites nato, <br />ural pools and riffles and makes iteas- <br />ier for fish to swim through, <br />Completing this passageway is the <br />first step 'in' restoring endangered fish <br />access to' approximately 50 miles. of <br />additional . Colorado River. habitat <br />upstream from Palisade to Rifle, Colo. <br />Two upstream stmctures, theGrand <br />Valley Project Diversion Dam and <br />Price slubb Dam, also impede fish <br />,m igration, <br />The Recovery Program currently is <br />evaluating whether to 'construct pas-' <br />sage structures at these other dams, <br />. ' - Jone Wright, <br />Bureau of Reclamation <br /> <br /> <br />Photos by Connie Young <br /> <br />(Top): To build the fish passageway at the Grand Valley Irrigation Company <br />, Diversion Dam, construction crews placed 'large boulders along the river <br />,bottom, creating water pathways for the river flows. Mike' Baker of the U.S. <br />Fish and 'Wildlife Service in Grand Junction, Colo., stands along one of <br />these pathways and explains how endangered fish will be able to swim <br />through the current and around the dam. . . <br /> <br />(Bottom): This downstream shot of the Colorado River shows water flow- <br />ing over the diversion dam. Previously, endangered fish were unable to <br />swim over this structure to reach upstream habitat. <br /> <br />S <br />