7286 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Flo rr l s n •d ~~~ e ~~. ~ J Squeezing Out the Squawfish Efforts to tame the last wild stretches of the Colorado River may spell troccble for two endangered species vice the Colorado cascaded wild and free for nearly 1.500 miles, from the Continental Divide to the Gulf of California. But with the completion of Hoover Dam in 1936. American engineers suc- ;;essfully began to tame the mighty river. During the next few decades, other gigantic dams and water diver- sion projects were built on the lower portion of the Colorado, and the river's fluctuating flows steadily di- minished. [n the process, much of the lower Colorado was transformed into a series of huge. placid lakes that drastically altered the habitat of a number of rare fish. Today. such endangered species as the Colorado Squawfish and the humpbacked chub have all but vanished from the lower river. And conser- vationists fear that these same species will meet a similar fate in the Colorado's upper basin, which still contains some X00 miles of free-flowing river. Prior to 1981, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Szrvice iFWSI issued what are known as "jeopardy opinions" on pro- posed water projects that threatened an zndangered species or its habitat. Such opinions required developers to under- take specific measures to ease potential threats. Recalls Barry IVlulder, an F~~~S official who oversees endangered Spe- cies activities in the region: " We didn't ;know enough about the status of the ' river or the fish. And in ! 977, we 'realized we needed more information." By 1981. the FWS had still not learned enough about the cumulative jeffects of water development on the lush. But that year also marked the be- atnning of the so-called "ti'~'indy Gap" ~rocess. Windy Gap was the name of the first project on the upper Colorado in which a developer was assessed a fee to fund FtiYS efforts to collect data, conduct research and create artificial. habitat. By using the new process, the agency avoided having to issue jeopardy opinions that might have halted or de- layed projects. As a result, since 198 l , 33 new water-diversion schemes have been initiated or approved in the upper basin. At least two dozen more projects are expected to come under review in the years ahead. :~1ost conservationists question this procedure. "You don't determine the ecological impact of >; projects by first building them and then figuring out what has happened." argues National Wildlife Federation biologist Bob Davison. The accelerated research effort, how- ever, has generated new facts about the endangered fish. The Squawfish was called the "white salmon" by zarly European settlzrs. Rzcent radio tzlzm- etrv tracking studies reveal that the spe- cies does sometimes migrate several hundrzd miles to reach spawning 4-76 grounds-the longest migration of any freshwater fish on the North .American continent. _ FtiVS scientist Harold Tvus, an au- thority on the squawtish. notes that the species "selects well-ox~ ~~enated areas, preferably w"hitewater can- yons, to spawn. V~'hen you block it from moving around. it apparently declines." Unlike the squawtish. rhz ~mailzr humpbacked chub rzmai:,S year- round inwhat another i=~•E S scientist, Lynn Kaeding, describes as ~' dezp water, turbulent river reachzS that are found in very narro~.v ,:anions." Unfortunately, such canvon~ also make ideal dam sites. Researchers I have Located only three Survivine populations of the fish. tievertheless. F~~ S Associate Direc- tor Rolf ~~'allenstrom asserts chat the present upper Colorado w~tzr allot- ment scheme can work, "River }low levels." he says, "have rhz prrzntial to be manipulated in rhz !onQ rzrm. ~~ ^zn- ztit both water uSZrs and rhz ~~h." ~t"allenstrom ~rr:SSZS r~::t the ..l~:indy Gap.. pr~czss ~.~aS 3n ~" ~zr- imzntal procedurz chat ~,va~ be;r, u~zd only in the upper Colorado. "Thzre'S a lot ~f hope chat it's doing to work." hz notes. "`1~ithout it. ~,ve :~-Quid ne at an absoluie standstill-and pzrhaps bz faced with Some definite challznges ro the Endangered Spzcizs .pct." Bob Davison and other conser- vationists Sze the situation differently. "~Vhv givz z~zrcthine away up trcnt:'" asks the biologist. "Lt's du ~,vhat the law- requires. If Congress is umvilling to accept the conSZquznczs, so be ir. ~~ har we have now is an Endan~zrzd Speciz= -pct that~s not ~.vorkin? in the upper Colorado basin. E~:zrv Singiz proizct has' ~ezn approved without full know[zdQz .f its zffects..and that could spzil trou- clz for the fish."-The Editors -18 ~bject of national concern, a Colorado squawftsh is temporarily captured for tagging by federal biologist Harold Tyus.