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'_ ~ - <br />-4 <br />PROJECT DESCRIPTION <br />Bowie Resources Limited's Bowie No. 2 Coal Mine will be an underground mine in <br />T. 13 S., R. 91 W., Delta County, Colorado. The permit area will encompass <br />2,327 acres with 76 surface acres disturbed and a potential of 1,500 acres <br />that could be impacted by subsidence. Based on a production estimate of <br />2 million tons of coal per year, the mine will deplete 121.8 acre-feet of <br />water annually from the North Fork of the Gunnison River. <br />BASIS FOR BIOLOGICAL OPINION <br />This biological opinion addresses an average annual depletion of approximately <br />121.8 acre-feet from the Upper Colorado River Basin. Water depletions in the <br />Upper Basin have been recognized as a major source of impact to endangered <br />fish species. Continued water withdrawal has restricted the ability of the <br />Colorado River system to produce flow conditions required by various life <br />stages of the fishes. <br />Critical habitat has been designated for the Colorado squawfish, humpback <br />chub, bonytail, and razorback sucker within the 100-year floodplain in <br />portions of their historic range (59 F.R. 13314). Destruction or adverse <br />modification of critical habitat is defined in 50 CFR 402.02 as a direct or <br />indirect alteration that appreciably diminishes the value of critical habitat <br />for both the survival and recovery of a listed species. In considering the <br />biological basis for designating critical habitat, the Service focused on the <br />primary physical and biological elements that are essential to the <br />conservation of the species without consideration of land or water ownership <br />or management. The Service has identified water, physical habitat, and <br />biological environment as the primary constituent elements. This includes a <br />quantity of water of sufficient quality that is delivered to a specific <br />location in accordance with a hydrologic regime that is required for the <br />particular life stage for each species. Water depletions reduce the ability <br />of the river system to provide the required water quantity and hydrologic <br />regime necessary for recovery of the fishes. The physical habitat includes <br />areas of the Colorado River system that are inhabited or potentially habitable <br />for use in spawning and feeding, as a nursery, or serve as corridors between <br />these areas. In addition, oxbows, backwaters, and other areas in the 100-year <br />floodplain, when inundated, provide access to spawning, nursery, feeding, and <br />rearing habitats. <br />BIOLOGICAL BACKGROUND <br />Colorado Sauawfish <br />The Colorado squawfish evolved as the main predator in the Colorado River <br />system. The diet of Colorado squawfish longer than 3 or 4 inches consists <br />almost entirely of other fishes (Vanicek and Kramer 1969). The Colorado <br />squawfish is the largest cyprinid fish (minnow family) native to North America <br />and, during predevelopment times, may have grown as large as 6 feet in length <br />and weighed nearly 100 pounds (Behnke and Benson 1983). These large fish may <br />have been 25-50 years of age. <br />