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<br />;E'ast meets West to discuss fish in peril
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<br />Watef'leaders hape to reach accOrd.
<br />on endangered species in Colorado
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<br />B\1YiIIi bottomland, builcline fish
<br />passacew&yS around. dams, install-
<br />Ing wa1llr<ODSerVing devices in irri.
<br />gation canals and eradicating exotic i
<br />fish are projects that cost mllJ.ions. .
<br />SlocklIIg Is a long-term project
<br />. OIIJynciw,lOyearsintotheprogmn,
<br />Br HFA11IElI McGREGOR can biologlsts stock the hundreds of
<br />'.' 1htllal~Se,...1 " I ~ !lsh needed to reo
<br />_____ _, , ' ,Slxlrea1liab1enatiVepopuJa!lon.
<br />Western and Eastern Slope water Water leaders bave agreed to meet ' ,"The recove:y p:osram Is cum.
<br />leaders have started a series oflalks weeklY through ~r, with at bersomeandfrastrating,butit'sbet. ,
<br />allned at resolving dlsagreemanls leas; two me4tings set for Glenwood- ter thai!. the alternat;lve," Stockton :
<br />over supplying water in the Colo. Spnngs or Summit County., said. "It would be a total disastedor i
<br />rado River for endangered fish, !"The ~ prosram Is In real the water community if we' had to "
<br />The arllUDlents are over howtroub1e. Weretrylngto get It back Ilglltthesethlllponeatiltlme." -f,
<br />much water Is I'ellIJ.y needed lei brlrig I on lIDe." said Locllhea:d. who con- The talks, set for Oct. 2, 7 15 and .
<br />thel\shbackli'omtheedgeofextinc- venedthetalks. ,'..... ,,', 22. ,will be almed at some hard :
<br />tlOD; 'llIId over where, the waler:- SimII1erlng ~ or, tI!e,: fish truths, Stockton said.' '"
<br />should OQme ll'om - East Slope or recovery program;:~ G,!!~"thls "TheWestemSl.ope~,gottoun',
<br />West Slope water rights. year, after the Ccilor34o Water Con- derstaDd'that more water'WIll flow
<br />The ta1ks were convened last servatlon Board,made a c:qnlrover. '~, '1'h8' Ftont Range Is growing
<br />week, said Jim Lochhead. director ot' sialllllng for InStream fIows',in:the and it wlII"need.mOlll water. , '
<br />the stale Department of Natural Re. Colorado River. , ' "The Eastern SIDpe has got to'un'
<br />sources, to keep the poUtlcall.v trag. Tbefl1iDlSwereputofthestate's derstand. that eompen.satoly water
<br />i1e Endangered FIsh !\eco\'ery Pro- elforttoCOOperatewiththeNCOve<y, storqemustlemalitontheWestem !
<br />gram from going down the tubes. ,program. which Is controlled by the ; S1Dpi!foi:' ,water userS. 'nOt the flsh,"
<br />Western Slope waler users have FIsh and Wlldllre ServIce and the'bi!saIl! ' ' " ,
<br />grown Increasingly vocal In their ~cIangered Specles Act. ..
<br />complaints that the U.S. Fish and 'TheldeatbatYOUneedDlDllDltllll
<br />Wildlife Service Is seeking too much tl.ows fbr these flsb Is preposterous,"
<br />water, and that, Western Slope usel'S sald G1eDwood SpriDp water Ia"er
<br />_ notlransmotlntain water dlvert- Scott Balcomb. "These are fish that ,
<br />e1'S - are being forced to S8crlI1oe. I'volved to deal with aatw:lll flow '
<br />The idea behind Iha program Is I varia.tIIms; Tb8 Yampa Riwr has an
<br />that water users, slale and (ederal. almost VirIlD flow, and the flsb are
<br />government agencies and environ" in ~le up there, too,"
<br />mentalists will work together to pro- Bo't'nmh contends that the re.cov.
<br />vide enough water (or Uie 'endan. cry tmlllI-- Is mJscuIded. and
<br />gered species - Coloradosquawfish. should~dCocus on stoc:kIDgflsb
<br />razorback sucker and humpbak and rIddiilC the river or predatory
<br />chub-whilelelllngmostwaterde. exotic~h.____~_ ___,_~
<br />velopment in the basin proceed. . ~In the .,,-.... or cer1alnty over
<br />Without the program, every new wbat .......very actually Is, the FIsh
<br />diversion would haw to win a per- IIld Wildli1'e Senke is placine too
<br />mit tcom the FIsh and WlJd1If'e Set'- mw:b. emphasis on flow," said Char-
<br />vice. and only If it bad little or nO ef, lie Stockton, assistant ma11lIier of i
<br />fectonenilA"8"l'eC\fish. Ute Water Coaservanc:y District. ,
<br />Many observers ~ that without "We C3DIlot recover the fish on i
<br />the recovery program, development flows. We need to ask FIsh and Wl1d; ,
<br />iii the Colorad.o River basln would life to acCelerate these non.flow '
<br />be bro\lll1t to a halt. altemal1ves."
<br />Water aaencies with large "Frankly, theA'S been an empha-
<br />projects. such as the Colorado River s1s, O!l flows beCause there hasn't
<br />Water ConservatIon DIstrict's Wo!. been the money to do other capltal.
<br />ford Mountain Reservoir or Ute Wa. Inlellsive etlbrls. " Loc~eed
<br />ter Conservancy District's Collbran responded. ,
<br />pipeline support the program. Mw:b. or the recovery program's
<br />DeIeP,tes from the Grand Valley \ 1998 budget of $3.3 million Is aimed
<br />say Iha problem can. ~ must, be !at protecting stream flows In west-
<br />worked out to keep the recovery pl'1> I ern ColDradD and eastern Utah.
<br />gram afloat But delepleS repre.: "The phrase 'a flsh out of water'
<br />sent1ng other partS of the Western ;holds meaninc here. Unless river
<br />Slope would just as soon cash in the 1 fl.ows are sulflclentat the right times
<br />recovery prolt8!D as make conces- of year, these fish, simply c:anIlDt
<br />. survlve,~ said Ralph Morgenweck,
<br />$lODS. regional directorofthe U.S. Fish and
<br />WlJd1If'e ServIce.
<br />
<br />GV'"~""d ~~d\'o""
<br />'1>~ 5~+i~e\
<br />~ ~7 1""'"1-
<br />
<br />Offid~~ f~:' ~i~~kG~~on
<br />With 4000 razorback suckers
<br />, . . . , I"'"
<br />:~':'oe ': . ...,l.t......". -'. .
<br />:;:,. <"'!'::'i',1.'I!l,HftJllEl\"'~~~~' '
<br />. . '~~~v''';' ~'.~f\' \.(t: .. '::~\ .~~~I!1.~,tiRel '''~.- ~.
<br />DEL'l'A- U.s.'rtsh ancfW!Jd1lfe Service biologists are stocking
<br />monrthan 4,000 hatchery.raised razorback suckers into the GwmI.
<br />son River to restore viable populations o( the endangered native
<br />l\s!;;.is will be the'largest numberofrazorgac;ks yel to be stocked. A
<br />totnlof600razorback$ was stocked in 1995,and 1\196- :, '.
<br />Ra:wrback suckers, so.i1aq>Qd for the spl,ny hwnp aD thell" backs,
<br />ClII1:j:roW' to be ,the largest suckers.1n North America. 'l'hey are
<br />unique to'the' Colorado'll.11(4lI" Illi.sin, and thebottom.feedlng sP:ecles
<br />Is belieVed to be 4 million years old. ,
<br />Blologtsts say these fish have a good chance o( survival b~use
<br />they are 7 to 12 inches lol1ll, too large to be eaten by most ~ther fish
<br />in the rl ver. And Uiese fISh are the fu-st.generatlon olfsprmg of rn.
<br />zorbacks caught In the wild, which should give them a better
<br />chance In Iha natu1'al environment.
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