2004-06-29_PERMIT FILE - C1981038 (3)

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i• maturation. If this is true. then access to these sheltered off-channel pools may be ver}~ important to successtul spawning in the upper reaches of the Colorado Ricer. Historically, bottomlands that routinely flooded during the spring runoff period would have provided these warm productive habitats; in recent years, flooded gravel pits may have provided the only compazable habitat. Razorback Sucker The razorback sucker. an endemic species unique to the Colorado River Basin, w•as historically abundant and widely distributed w5thin warmwater reaches throughout the Colorado River Basin. Historically, razorback suckers were found in the main stem Colorado River and major tributaries in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and in Mexico (Ellis 1914; Hinckley 1983). Bestgen (1990) reported that this species was once so numerous that it was cotrmtonly used as food by early settlers and, further, that commercially mazketable quantities were caught in Arizona as recently as 1949. In the Upper Basin, razorback suckers were reported in the Green River to be very abundant neaz Green River, Utah, in the late 1800's (Jordan 1891). An account in Osmundson and Kaeding (1989) reported that residents living along the Colorado River near Clifton, Colorado, observed several thousand razorback • suckers during spring runoff in the 1930's and early 1940's. In the San Juan River drainage, Platania and Young (1989) relayed historical accounts of razorback. suckers ascending the Animas River to Durango, Colorado, azound the tum of the century. A mazked decline in populations of razorback suckers can be attributed to construction of damp and reservoirs, introduction of nonnative fishes, and removal of lazge quantities of water from the Colorado River system. Dams on the main stem Colorado River and its major tributaries have segmented the river system and drastically altered flows, temperatures, and channel geomorphology. Major changes in species composition have occurred due to the introduction of numerous nonnative fishes, many of which have thrived due to man-induced changes to the natural riverine system. The current distribution and abundance of the razorback sucker have been significantly reduced throughout the Colorado River system (McAda 1987; McAda and Wydoski 1980; Holden and Stalnaker 1975; Hinckley 1983; Ivfazsh and Hinckley 1989; Tyus 1987). The only substantial population of razorback suckers remaining, made up entirely of old adults (McCarthy and Hinckley 1987), is found in Lake Mohave; however, they do not appeaz to be successfully recruiting. While limited numbers of razorback suckers persist in other locations in the Lower Colorado River, they aze considered rare or incidental and may be continuing to decline. In the Upper Basin, above Glen Can}•on Dam, razorback suckers are found in limited numbers in both len:ic and lotic eavironn:ents. Tile ;~: gest population o: razorback suckers ir. the upper Basin is found in the upper Green River and lower Yampa River (Tyus 1987). Lanigan and Tyus (1939) estimated that from 758 to 1,138 razorback suckers inhabit the upper Green River. In the Colorado River, most razorback suckers occur in the Grand Valley azea near Grand Junction,