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<br />In periods when additional water is needed to operate the fish passage, water available to the <br />Recovery Program from Reclamation's Ruedi Reservoir could be used to augment streamflows if <br />the Service chose to use the available water for that purpose, Water in Ruedi committed to the <br />Recovery Program would be available to the Service to use as they see fit within certain <br />parameters that include flow limitations in the Fryingpan River, and only during certain times of <br />the year consistent with the Ruedi final environmental impact statement, <br /> <br />Appendix B contains a detailed evaluation of the water supply, historic flow data, opportunities to <br />enhance flows, and possible supplemental water supplies for this and other potential upstream fish <br />passageways. The Colorado Division of Water Resources (Division V) would be consulted to <br />coordinate operations of the fish passage and releases from Ruedi or other upstream reservoirs to <br />enhance flows. <br /> <br />The Service would monitor fish populations upstream and downstream of the passage to <br />determine if fish are using the structure. In addition, larval fish (recently hatched fish) would be <br />monitored to determine if upstream spawning is occurring, . <br /> <br />Fish Screens <br /> <br />The Recovery Program recognizes that a fish screen may be needed at the entrance to the GVIC <br />Canal to prevent losses of endangered fishes as they return downstream. This possibility was also <br />addressed in the biological opinion on the project as discussed above. Historic records indicate <br />that losses of endangered fish to unscreened canals have occurred in the past (Quartarone 1993; <br />Pfeifer, 1994, personal communication), Various types of screens are available to exclude fish <br />from canals (Miller and Laiho 1997); all have advantages and disadvantages. A primary concern <br />is that screens with small openings, unless frequently cleaned, can collect trash and debris from <br />the river and actually reduce diversion capabilities. It is considered very important that, if needed, <br />the screens would have small enough openings to prevent sub-adult and adult squawfish and <br />razorbacks from entering the GVIC Canal, Ifneeded, the screen would be designed, constructed, <br />operated, and maintained with costs borne by the Recovery Program and/or the Service. <br /> <br />Recently hatched larval fish are more difficult to screen than the larger fish. From the present <br />knowledge of endangered fish, it appears the distribution of the larvae is uniform across a reach <br />of river. Therefore, some percentage of the larvae would be lost in the canal. However, it must <br />be recognized that there is a large mortality rate for larval fishes under natural conditions. It is <br />believed that even though some would be lost to the canal, there would be a net benefit in efforts <br />to recover the fish because others would pass over the diversion to downstream reaches of the <br />river. Some larvae would survive to the adult stage and naturally reproduce to help develop self- <br />sustaining populations. Therefore, there will be no plan to attempt to design or build screens to <br />exclude the larval fish rom the canal, Consideration would mainly be given to screening larger <br />fish. <br /> <br />12 <br />