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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />5 <br /> <br />assumes the demand data to be reasonable and correct. As indicated in <br />Appendix A, the most frequent requests for water from parties interested in <br />purchasing Ruedi II water are anticipated to occur in the months of August, <br />September, and October; these are the months when demand for water in the <br />Colorado River usually exceeds supply, and thus many junior appropriators are <br />out of priority and in need of augmentation water. <br /> <br />As a part of the anticipated operation of Ruedi Reservoir, water supply will <br />be forecast by the end of June. If water supply is not adequate to meet the <br />full demand, a uniform shortage will be imposed on successful bidders. <br />Municipal users will be first to take a shortage and this can be as high as 15," <br />percent of their demand request. If the shortage is more severe, the shortage <br />will be shared equally by both municipal and industrial users. <br /> <br />FWS analysis of the data exhibited in Appendix A indicates that the majority <br />of water sales from Ruedi will come in dry to moderately dry water years. <br />Water sales at the 10 percentile (extremely dry conditions) would be <br />approximately 34,400 acre-feet. At the 25 percentile (a moderately dry year) <br />sales would be 22,100 acre-feet, which is close to the projected annual <br />average sale from Ruedi Round II. Water sales at the 50 percentile (an <br />average water year) would drop to 8,700 acre-feet, because most of the junior <br />appropriators would be. in priority. The maximum sale of 59,000 acre-feet <br />occurred in 1964. Sales in 1977, the driest year in the period, were 36,000 <br />acre-feet. The lowest sales of Ruedi Round II were projected to occur in <br />1952. <br /> <br />The identification of any activity or projects which may be related to the <br />Ruedi Round II sale is not possible at this time. Consultation is taking <br />place prior to the sale, thus successful bidders and their proposed uses of <br />water are not known. Although some oil shale projects may utilize Ruedi. II <br />water in the future, it has been determined that such projects could be <br />carried out without acquiring Ruedi water and are, therefore, not interrelated <br />to the sale. <br /> <br />BASIS FOR OPINION <br /> <br />Past and Present ~istribution <br />of Colorado Squawfish <br /> <br />The Colorado squawfish evolved as the main predator fish in the Colorado River <br />system. The diet of Colorado squawfish longer than 3 or 4 inches consists <br />almost entirely of other fishes (Vanicek and Kramer, 1969). The Colorado <br />squawfish is the largest cyprinid fish (minnow family) native to North <br />America, and during pre-development times, the species may have grown as large <br />as 6 feet in length, with weights near 100 pounds (Behnke and Benson, 1980). <br />These 1arge fish are thought to have been older than 25 years of age, and may <br />have been as old as 50 years. <br /> <br />A marked decline in Colorado squawfish populations can be closely correlated <br />with the construction of dams and reservoirs and the removal of water from the <br />Colorado River system. Behnke and Benson (1980) summarized the decline of the <br />