|
<br />_., .. .......J ~ Ll'\j 1 U Kt.
<br />
<br />-~.)lv:.'"
<br />
<br />"....~....,.,..:r.':=t"'..._oL'.....".'.......
<br />
<br />~Sportsmen sueirt!:$fJtJ,juan
<br />r -r.~"'-"_:\: I:,~~ -~~" : \
<br />Want to buy a
<br />.) bndge?
<br />How about;'l
<br />darr. and irrigation
<br />project? It'sa La.'\-
<br />pJ}'er'ssfea1at
<br />$653 million - if
<br />you believe there
<br />are only 15 trout
<br />per acre in the
<br />world-famous qual-
<br />ity trout 3tretth
<br />be.low Na'I"2..lc Dam
<br />tn-New l"feXlco's Sanjuan River.
<br />Fifteen trout and r.o more, ac-
<br />cording to the U.S. Bureau (If Rt'.::Ja-
<br />mation, the. busy-beaverbu-
<br />reauITac)' in charge of building what
<br />has been de3cribed tile last dam
<br />project IJ1 the West. (Actu;illy
<br />.BuRec blulogists SJJd .17
<br />troutJhectare, the sa..-ne as 15
<br />trout/acre.)
<br />Any westen-. fly angler who has
<br />ever tishcd the San Juan - which is
<br />alm(ls~ e'ler:;tr....cty - would howl in
<br />their waders at 3uch a bra;ell fish
<br />story.
<br />"Yhat37 trout number is just
<br />abs'Ll!d." says Bill Carpenter, an
<br />Albuquerque Lawyer and fly fisher.
<br />"Come to the Sanjuan. You'll see
<br />more fish tlun that, and you car,
<br />catch that many 011 some days."
<br />B;o]ogJsts at the New Me:iJw
<br />Game and Fish Department are not
<br />amused. They say there are 1,378
<br />trout per acre, nut 15, in the quali!y
<br />\\!a[ef below Nav-;ljo Dlm - 92
<br />~me.5 more than the fcdeml esti- .
<br />rflate.
<br />The squabble is over ho'", man}'
<br />.rout are a( stake in a jow-flow
<br />~xpf:nment that aims ~o squeeze
<br />"he S<lIl )u.m's CUlTent down four
<br />imes below n'.m11al for four monUls
<br />~his WInter. BuRec hopes to mimic
<br />the tWe.(s rot~ pre-dam winter
<br />flows tu benefit endan~ered sqUllW.
<br />Gsh, which alre.:ldy are squeezed
<br />ntoabOl!1 200 miles ofnvef-a
<br />o)urth of the range s4.u.ay..fis~ need
<br />o sur:ive -- bet\veen Navajo D:?UTl
<br />wI L.;J-i.e Powel:.
<br />The endIDgered fish ?roje.ct.
<br />rough!. by pressure from eJl\.11"on-
<br />lental group:;., is hcldinR up tile
<br />rllinas-LaPl;n.a water project in
<br />.uthwt;sr Colorado and northwest
<br />~w t.lf:xico. But no one eY.pec..cd
<br />)\It to funher ccmpucate deve\u?-
<br />~nt Qf the $653 million ;-.rO)t::ct,
<br />llch 1 fedc.ral audit 'Savs ,1fJ.! be a
<br />money loser for tt<Payers.
<br />3uRec has reason to func)' its
<br />oller nu,.,-.ber.lfthere are only 15
<br />j\ per aa'e now, the low flow
<br />er,ment would seem a S1JCCe33rt
<br />rout per acre sunWc me.agi.':r They want a more thorough study
<br />s of250 C1Jbic feel per second of the low flow's possible aftenna:n,
<br />1 Novt:mber Uu'o\.lgh February. including some thought given to the
<br />;-.w M.eicu fi::,herie::; officiaJs recreation.1l and economic irnpor-
<br />fired pretest letter:> at the fed- tance of trOllt fishing in the area,
<br />l!1er,cy, claiming it has stacked .~W we ask is that they do 311
<br />k. Carpenter and Dick Ge~d- en...irorunental assessment," said
<br />Farmington, N.M..lawyer and Carpenter:
<br />her, have gone. to court. Such an assessment is required
<br />~ pall' are representIng In- by the National Environmentir Poli-
<br />Jnservationists of the Rio cy Act. and ''''..ould include public'
<br />e chaplcr of Trout Unl.imJted input. BuRec has ilfgued th.:tt jt~oes
<br />t Sanjuan Fly Fislung Feder- not have to ~mplywith ~PAor .
<br />'\her a brief truce with r,~ &cncrruc and recreatiori.al. e'..-
<br />they have reopened-tbe.u: :..",; i den~ iJ]Jhi,s,ca.se. Carpep~g 'fin~_
<br />: ag.un3uhe-<lgency in Feder- .G~g~y: the fede.tJll ~~<;I)I,
<br />1Ct CO'.1,"1 of New Mexico. posItion IS based on fault}'lr~
<br />
<br />
<br />Ed
<br />Dentry
<br />
<br />,,.~ ..".....,..J1Pf~u~ntal~>:'?,
<br />
<br />.. ::'1I~.', )IJly 14. J.~
<br />I Ci''1",
<br />
<br />.,.;
<br />
<br />showdown
<br />
<br />
<br />,,:'::~~;i.:!' ,;,:'q {/;': _ . . ... .'-':'>~ : ',' . . ~dnenuynl<xkyMount"lnN(
<br />A trout jumps for 0 fly fisherman In a q'ualitY fishing siretc:n of the San Juan River below Navajo Dam in northwest New MeXICO. The Sc:
<br />Juan (s considered one Of the most productive. ,overs intne West. . .
<br />.' :.':":~, -:;~J,:~.:;. .
<br />
<br />
<br />be displaced, some .....ill die and
<br />much of their food source will dry
<br />up. He says a two.-week. test per-
<br />fomled list winter v.ra.3 too short tl
<br />show any impact on trout. He
<br />expects fishermen, guides aIld bus
<br />nesses wilt find poorer fishing neA1
<br />spring.
<br />Gerding 5ays BuRec ignored '
<br />probably the most senC'u.s Impact (
<br />all- "the presence of OPPOrtu-
<br />nistic fishermen" - mits test last
<br />winter:
<br />"The I1lSccts aI'.d otl-,er impacts
<br />.....ere kind of subtle," he said. But
<br />fishery are spreading through the /lot so subtle was an invasion of
<br />busy angling communities (If Navajo fishermen, .....ho fOlmd it easy to
<br />Dam 'and Farrr.i'1gton. The CO!ltro- !or:ate, catch and kill big trout in th.\
<br />versy is exactiy the kind that lower b31t-fishlng stretches.
<br />. prompted the Clinton adnun- . futch questions whether the io\
<br />istration in 1995 to order feler.u nO''''''5 are even ne:cessat)' fur
<br />agencies in,volved in endar.gered sq1Jawfish reproduction, and
<br />species recove..ry to resolve can- whether such extremes act'Jally do
<br />:" diets \\-'it:h sport fishern:.en and to mimic natursl flows before dams
<br />arguments. , , pr~cr<le ar,d er.r.ance recreatior.al were bUlle
<br />The plaintiffS-and the New Mex- . fishing opportwuties (Executive Critics of the low flows say the
<br />ico Game and Fish Department sa\' . Order 12962). federal e).ller.rr,ent rrJgllt even
<br />BuRec's estimates'cif.tl1e'low flow' . ~'Rerxeatio!lal or economic irr.- harrr. squi.i\viisn bS" making the San .
<br />effects on ttout also uses faulty sa; pacLSwere never <:orlsidered," said . Juan River more toxic when t10ws
<br />entific rnethod~ that go far b.eyon.d. Gerding, even though Game and become insufficient co dJ.!ute nUninj
<br />its unique metbodof counting fish. Fish data shows that the first2~ pollutants that trickle in from tribu.
<br />"Tnere are~.s.'oine giievousprob. - Iniles of quality water below Navajo t.1nes,
<br />lems ...'ith wh:3t tbey'~e,doing:,' said daln attracted 115,000 angler days ':~.!lyway, they d1d.,'t find a SinglE
<br />Mike Hatc."'-1, state fisheries supervi- in 1995, 17%-of anglers hiring squawtish up there last \v1.1ltef,"
<br />, sor. "Their stU~y.is desigiled to find,'. guides. The popular trout fishery Gerdmg s;ud.
<br />. no impact.,(cin-trout and their habi- " '. e>.tends 13 more miles downsttearr, So, they missed a few. Along witi
<br />tat).We haye':.Nntten 'to them aiJd.:' from the qUality (catch-l'elease) a, thousand trout or so, Fifteen trOLll
<br />,'3Igl.ledfor'a'~Orethoro'Jgr.,_,~,.., ". !itretch' ,: ',", ~ . ",', _ peracrebelowN3.\laj()Darn'!Wno-
<br />I apPrPaA:"" ~':,:r.:~t':.~~ -~~" .~,',~~:,; .....'.. ..': N. .o.'one. =,... ~,'.th. ~':6v...,":W. }o.r.',~'~.::,- ~." I ~.'v.'.er,.be1ieves that is ri~ to. buy
<br />;1 -; '1J~hil~,;m'ste~np~; f;.;'1 thi~,,~~~9 ~~,iQt~:~tli~Qj" ,;,:u 'I ~ine oc~. frQIn propertx 1p;N~w.
<br />loss and a dep~~d~~eab.onal trout. But HatCh says many fish wiU Me.xico. i
<br />
<br />. '.<., \'~'~~j~~..\ou~tiiI1N'WJ
<br />Guide Jotm Duncan of Telluride shOws a PllJlrlp _?an '~.F.a~. R~r.ri:lIn- ,.
<br />bow. AngJe1'5 fear tne impact of a low.fiow ~~periment in tlie area.' ~
<br />
|