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III. ENVIRONMENT AL CONSIDERATIONS Under the new regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, all the alternative plan impacts were considered when the projected plan was developed for the La Verkin Springs Unit. One overriding environ- mental concern was the endangered woundfin minnow and how the proposed project would affect its existence. The following discussion explains the proposed measures to protect the woundfin. A. Actions to Preserve the Endangered Woundfin Minnow The woundfin minnow, because of the precarious nature of its existence, has been listed in the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service listing of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants of the United States as an endangered species. Today it is restricted to the Virgin River and the lower reaches of La Verkin Creek. Its continued existence within the Virgin River system is directly linked to the amount of further physical, chemical, and biological alteration !, of the mainstream habitat. 1. Fish Monitoring. In 1973, the WPRS and the Fish and Wildlife Service (F&WS) initiated joint funding for research studies on the endangered woundfin and the F&WS contracted for the studies with Environmental Consultants, Inc., of Las Vegas, Nevada. About this same time, the Fish and Wildlife Service began work to establish a Woundfin Recovery Team. A representative from the WPRS has continued to serve on this team from its inception in 1975. In early 1976, the recovery team began a program to monitor the abundance and size of the woundfin and this monitoring has continued three times a year to the present time. In order to assess the effects, if any, of the La Verkin Springs Unit on the woundfin, the WPRS, in conjunction with the F&WS and the Woundfin Recovery Team, proposed to modify the existing monitoring program. The WPRS intends to increase the present monitoring to a monthly program beginning 6 months before the 002522 13