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Colorado pikeminnow <br />The Colorado pikeminnow (Ptvchocheilus Lucius is atorpedo-shaped fish with an olive-green <br />and gold back, silver sides and white belly. The Colorado pikeminnow thrives in swift flowing <br />muddy rivers with quiet, warm backwaters and are primarily piscivorous, but smaller individuals <br />also eat insects and other invertebrates. These fish spawn between ]ate June and early September <br />and when they are 5 to 6 years old and at least 16 inches long. Spawning occurs over riffle areas <br />with grave] or cobble substrate. The eggs are randomly splayed onto the bottom, and usually <br />hatch in less than one week. <br />The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has previously determined that water depletions in the Upper <br />Colorado River System are a major source of impact to the endangered fish species. Continued <br />water withdrawals have restricted the ability of the Colorado River system to produce the flow <br />conditions required by the various life stages of these fish. <br />OSM could not find any record of any previous consultations for water depletions from the <br />Upper Colorado River Basin and the Colorado pikeminnow. OSM required Snowcap Coal <br />Company to verify its current water depletion estimate for the Roadside North and South Portals <br />mine. Snowcap Coal Company responded that there is a 17.8 ac/ft consumptive water loss from <br />evaporation from sediment controls for the disturbed area and another 4.3 ac/ft consumptive <br />water loss from water used for dust control. Therefore, based on the above information, OSM <br />has determined that PR-03 "may affect /likely to adversely affect" the Colorado pikeminnow. <br />Humpback Chub <br />The humpback chub (Gila cypha) is a streamlined minnow with a concave skull and a prominent <br />nttchal hump at the occiput, the back end of head marked by a line separating scaleless and scaled <br />portions of epidermis with a caudal peduncle thin but not long snout that overhangs upper lip and <br />scales often minute or absent on keel, Adults are dark on tap and light below and fins rarely have <br />yellow-orange pigment near base. Adults are usually range from 12-16 inches long and weigh ;/a <br />to 2 pounds. The humpback chub historically ranged in [he mainstem Colorado River preferring <br />slower eddies and pools downstream to below the Hoover Dam site, however, present <br />populations are restricted to areas in, and upstream, of the Grand Canyon. <br />The U.S. Fish Rc Wildlife Service has previously determined that water depletions in the Upper <br />Colorado River System are a major source of impact to the endangered fish species. Continued <br />water withdrawals have restricted the ability of the Colorado River system to produce the flow <br />conditions required by the various life stages of these fish. <br />OSNI could not find any record of any previous consultations for water depletions from the <br />Upper Colorado River Basin and the humpback chub. OSM required Snowcap Coal Company to <br />verify its current water depletion estimate for the Roadside North and South Portals mine. <br />Snowcap Coal Company responded that there is a 17.8 aclft consumptive water loss from <br />evaporation from sediment controls for the disturbed area and another 4.3 ac/ft consumptive <br />