Fish sampling was conducted in the Dolores River, Colorado, in 1971 and the Yampa River system of Colorado, 1968-71 with emphasis placed on iare and endangered species. Eleven species were found in the Dolores River, but no rare and endangered forms were collected. Twenty-two species were collected in the Yampa River system, including four rare and endangered forms: Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha) bonytail chub (Gila elegans) and humpback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus). The Yampa system appeared important to reproduction and preservation of Colorado squawfish. The native fish fauna of the Colorado River basin represents one of the least understood groups of fishes native to a major North American river basin. Reasons for this are the rugged terrain surrounding the Colorado River and the low economic and sport value placed on these species. The Colorado River has in the last 50 years been greatly desecrated, with much of the system either dry or ponded into great reservoirs. These factors have greatly limited the available habitat for native fishes. Several species are now rare and endangered. Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius) and humpback chub (Gila cypha) are presently considered rare and endangered by the U. S. Department of the Interior (1968). The humpback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) and bonytail chub (Gila elegans) are very rare also (Miller 1972). The native fish of the Colorado River system can be separated into two groups: (1) large river forms found in main channels of the Colorado River, Green River and larger tributaries, and (2) small stream forms found primarily in the lower basin (Nevada, Arizona) in small streams and springs. Minckley and Deacon (1968) reviewed the status of native fishes in the lower Colorado basin (below Grand Canyon). They concluded that large forms are virtually extinct in the lower basin. Therefore, the upper Colorado basin remains th2 only refuge for these unique fishes. This paper is concerned with the Yampa and 1 Portion of a doctoral dissertation written at Utah State University.
This edited volume was originally published in 2000 and presents a comprehensive, interdisciplinary review of issues related to inland flood hazards. It addresses physical controls on flooding, flood processes and effects, and responses to flooding, from the perspective of human, aquatic, and riparian communities. Individual chapter authors are recognized experts in their fields who draw on examples and case studies of inland flood hazards from around the world. This volume is unusual among treatments of flood hazards in that it addresses how the non-occurrence of floods, in association with flow regulation and other human manipulation of river systems, may create hazards for aquatic and riparian communities. This book will be a valuable resource for everyone associated with inland flood hazards: professionals in government and industry, and researchers and graduate students in civil engineering, geography, geology, hydrology, hydraulics, and ecology.
Abstract : Instream flow methods have been developed predominantly by biologists and hydrologists working for agencies having regulatory responsibility related to water development and management (Stalnaker and Arnette 1976). Such efforts over the last 30 years have provided the impetus for detailed ecological studies leading to a significant growth in the understanding of the relations between stream flow and aquatic habitats. Most of the empirical evidence gathered to date has focused on fish and benthic macro-invertebrate habitat requirements, with recent emphasis on the relation between stream flow and woody riparian vegetation and river-based recreation (Gore 1987; Orth 1987; Brown 1992; Shelby et al. 1992; Scott et al. 1993). Water management problem solving has matured from setting fixed minimum flows with no specific aquatic habitat benefit to incremental methods in which aquatic habitats are quantified as a function of stream discharge. Within this historical progression we also saw the application of a water budget which set the stage for having the fisheries manager be an integral part of an interdisciplinary decision-making system. This chapter will review the progression of circumstances and techniques leading to the development of IFIM and point toward what the future might hold.
