PERMFILE120786

• Permit No: C1991078
• IBM Index Class Name: Permit File
• Doc Date: 3/13/2007
• Section_Exhibit Name: Exhibit 10 Wildlife Statement
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

J.E. Stover & Associates, Inc
• January 19, 2007
Page 6
Fishes
The upper Colorado River Basin is home to 12 native fish species, four of which are listed as
endangered: bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, and razorback sucker (USFWS
1991). Decline of the four endangered species is due at least in part to habitat destruction
(diversion and impoundment of rivers) and competition and predation from introduced fish species.
In 1994, the USFWS designated critical habitat for the four endangered species at Federal Register
56(206):54957-54967, which in Colorado includes the 100-year floodplain of the upper Colorado
River from Rifle to Lake Powell, and the Gunnison River from Delta to Grand Junction.
None of the four endangered Colorado River fishes occur in or near the mine permit boundary and
the mine permit boundary does not occur within or adjacent to designated critical habitat. The
closest closest potential populations of the Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, and razorback
sucker are in the Gunnison River, approximately 45 miles north of the mine boundary. The bonytail
is presumed to be extirpated in Colorado.
Water depletion in the greater Colorado River basin has the potential to diminish backwater
spawning areas in downstream designated critical habitat in the Colorado River. Therefore,
potential impacts to Colorado River endangered fishes could result from water depletion in the
drainage of the San Miguel River, a tributary of the Dolores River, which drains to critical habitat for
the four endangered fishes in the Colorado River some 70 miles northwest. The Hamilton Mine
permit boundary contains two sediment ponds, whose evaporative water consumption results in
• downstream water depletion to the greater Colorado River basin and endangered fish critical
habitat. The total dead storage surface area of the two sediment ponds within the Hamilton Mine
permit boundary is 0.56 acres, with a total estimated evaporative loss of approximately 1.7 acre-feet
per year. This water consumption rate remains unchanged for the proposed renewal of the
Hamilton Mine permit.
The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program, a partnership of public and private
organizations working to recover the four species while allowing continued and future water
development, was established in 1988. Recovery strategies include conducting research, improving
river habitat, providing adequate stream flows, managing non-native fish, and raising endangered
fish in hatcheries for stocking. The USFWS has determined that the Recovery Program has made
"sufficient progress to be the reasonable and prudent alternative to avoid the likelihood of jeopardy
to the endangered fishes and to avoid destruction or adverse modification of their critical habitat by
depletions of 100 acre-feet or less."
To date, no formal consultations have occurred between the Department of Interior Office of
Surface Mining and the USFWS under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act regarding water
depletions by Hamilton Mine to endangered fish habitat.
Summary of Findings
Based on an analysis of habitat requirements and documented species ranges, the proposed
renewal of Hamilton Mine Permit No. C-1991-078 issued by the DRMS will have no effect on
Mexican spotted owl, southwestern willow flycatcher, yellow-billed cuckoo, black-footed ferret,
Canada lynx, Uintah Basin hookless cactus, or clay-loving wild buckwheat.
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