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DRAFT AND PREDECISIONAL DOCUMENT - FOR COORDINATION COMMmEE REVIEW ONLY .:::J :::> ,-::> '. ) to t..o.:l 2. To proceed with water development in the Basin in compliance with federal and state laws, interstate compacts, Supreme Court decrees, and federal trust responsibilities to the Southern Utes, Ute Mountain Utes, Jicarilla Apaches, and the Navajos. The time frame for the achievement of the Program's goals is 15 years; hence, this Long Range Plan (LRP) is directed toward the realization of discernable and appreciable positive biological responses of the endangered fish species and their habitats to management of water and other resources in the Basin within that time frame. Recovery of the two endangered species (Colorado squawfish and razorback sucker) is not considered viable without fully understanding and managing for the native fish community of which they are a component. Thus, this Long Range Plan addresses the aquatic components and terrestrial linkages to the aquatic system of the Basin that may affect the native fish community. For the purposes of the San Juan River Long Range Plan, management of the native fish community is defined as those activities which are necessary to provide for the biotic and abiotic needs essential to the recovery of the endangered species. Within the 15-year planning horiwn encompassed by the Program, this Plan will provide for the formulation of annual work plans for the satisfaction of identified information needs, the timely evaluation of the success of implemented actions to protect and recover the endangered fish species of the Basin, and the short term, intermediate, and ultimate actions necessary to attain recovery and allow for compatible development of the Basin's resources. The integration and evaluation of research results and, as appropriate and possible, adaptive management actions, will occur annually to provide the foundation upon which planning, research, and recovery action initiatives can be tested.^" -rt.... &:.Co~ c,,~ ~ "'r +0 -tL c.....,u.;...~~ ~ "- ..... -;k..... "......~>. t1- ..., 2.0 WNG RANGE PLAN ecovery of the endangered species requires understanding the functional relationships of the biotic and abiotic components of the San Juan River and how they influence its native fish community. Narrowly focusing on only the two endangered species will omit important components on which the recovery of those species may depend. Therefore, a broadly based fish community approach, focused on the recovery of the endangered fish species, is essential to achieving the goals of the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program. In addition, the relative achievement of these goals will be the criteria upon which success of the Program as a whole will be judged and evaluated. 2.1 BACKGROUND The native fish community of the San Juan River evolved in a system characterized by dramatic physical environmental changes. Flow varied from almost non-existent to devastating floods. Seasonal and annual environmental changes wrought by widely different flows were not predictable, but over time such variations were certain to occur. Such extremes in abiotic Jt . ~ . ,..0 -tLt-- tk ~~i\ ~ \<0<> .f.."J...,( ........1..:-.~ -lo p""W ~ ~ ,.., 0-- T :~ wr ...c.~ ~ --d.~ -li)1, --oR -tLq- --tL..-..:.. "-<> -..\.. e.\'"- _ /,V . .3 _ 0 - ! f J . ;r ~ -rt; ~Xltd> -to ~ ~ cR~~t)fT?........::r- f>-- ::L,^'J;I~--::'~ ,,,-'t4 ~ ~ ~~ "1oN(~'t-""- ~~ -p..L,. Mr,~,-