Laserfiche WebLink
<br />',',;' ~'fj ')I.>" <br />. ,., I, '. <br /> <br />,..". i.' . <br />OOO~S~ <br /> <br />3. FY 2002-2003 WORK PLAN HIGHLIGHTS <br /> <br />Appendices A and B summarize the Program's FY 2002-2003 budget and work plans. <br />Appendix C provides a brief narrative description of each project (detailed scopes of work for <br />each project are available from the Program Director's office). Major areas of emphasis in the <br />FY 2002-2003 work plan are outlined by recovery element below. <br /> <br />3.1 Identify. Provide and Protect Instream Flows - Roughly 13% of the FY 2002 budget is <br />dedicated to identifYing and protecting instream flows needed to provide habitat for the <br />endangered fishes. <br /> <br />A. Instream Flow Protection <br /> <br />The most expensive flow protection activity planned for FY 2002 -2003 is Grand Valley <br />water management. This project involves improvements to canals in the Grand Valley <br />irrigation project that will reduce the demand on the river and provide storage in Green <br />Mountain Reservoir, resulting in up to 30,000 acre-feet of water for the endangered fish. <br />Construction is scheduled for completion in FY 2003. <br /> <br />Other flow protection activities in the Grand Valley area of the Colorado River include: <br />I) continued coordination of operation of reservoirs in the upper reaches of the Colorado <br />River to provide additional spring peak flows to enhance endangered fish spawning <br />habitat; and 2) a coordinated facilities study to explore additional management options for <br />providing more water to the 15-Mile Reach during high spring flow period and the <br />summer/early fall low flow period. <br /> <br />A management plan for the Yampa River has been prepared which outlines alternatives to <br />benefit the endangered fish as well as cover existing and future depletions of up to 28,000 <br />acre-feet in the Yampa River Basin. In FY 2002, a programmatic biological opinion will <br />be developed. <br /> <br />Draft flow recommendations were submilted in FY 2000 for lhe Gunnison River. These <br />will be finalized by FY 2002 and work begun on a management plan and programmalic <br />biological opinion for the Gunnison River. <br /> <br />B. Instream Flow Identification <br /> <br />Instream flow identification activities for FY 2002 -2003 focus on: I) a study of the effects <br />of fluctuating flows on young overwintering Colorado pikeminnow; 2) channel monitoring <br />to evaluate geomorphic changes on the mainstem Colorado River resulting from <br />coordinated reservoir operations; 3) determination of winter use and seasonal flow needs <br />of Colorado pikeminnow in the lower Price River; and 4) a study of the cumulative effects <br />of Flaming Gorge dam releases on the fish community in Lodore and Whirlpool canyons. <br /> <br />4 <br />