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Federally Listed, Proposed and Candidate Species
Colorado River Fish
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Potentail Distribution in Wyoming by County
Counties where effects to Colorado River Fish should be considered.
Carbon County | Fremont County | Lincoln County | Sublette County | Sweetwater County | Uinta County
- For Species Lists, please use the IPaC System
Section 7 Range
If an action is proposed within the Section 7 Range, potnetial effects to the species and habitat should be considered. Project proponets are encouraged to contact the FWS Wyoming Ecological Servcies Office.
Download Section 7 Range GIS Data or Section 7 Range Google Earth layers
Species Information
Formal interagency consultation under section 7 of the ESA is required for projects that may lead to depletions of water from any system that is a tributary to the Colorado River. Federal agency actions resulting in water depletions to the Colorado River system may affect the endangered bonytail (Gila elegans), Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), humpback chub (Gila cypha), and razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) and their habitat downstream in the Green and Colorado River systems. In addition, upstream depletions may contribute to the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat for these four species. Critical habitat is designated for Colorado River Fish in Colorado and Utah in downstream riverine habitat in the Yampa, Green, and Colorado River systems (see 50 CFR 17.95(e))
In general, depletions include evaporative losses and/or consumptive use of surface or groundwater within the affected basin, often characterized as diversions less return flows. Project elements that could be associated with depletions include, but are not limited to, ponds (detention/recreation/irrigation storage/stock watering), lakes (recreation/irrigation storage/municipal storage/power generation), reservoirs (recreation/irrigation storage/municipal storage/power generation), hydrostatic testing of pipelines, wells, dust abatement, diversion structures, and water treatment facilities. Any actions that may result in a water depletion should be identified. The document should include an estimate of the amount and timing of average annual water use (both historic and new uses) and methods of arriving at such estimates; location of where water use or diversion occurs, as specifically as possible; if and when the water will be returned to the system; and the intended use of the water. Depending upon the details of the project, the Service may have more specific questions regarding the potential consumptive use of water.
The Service, in accordance with the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program, adopted a de minimis policy, which states that water-related activities in the Upper Colorado River Basin that result in less than 0.1 acre-foot per year of depletions in flow have no effect on the Colorado River endangered fish species, and thus do not require consultation for potential effects on those species. Similarly, detention basins designed to detain runoff for less than 72 hours, and temporary withdrawals of water outside of critical habitat (e.g., for hydrostatic pipeline testing) that return all the water to the same drainage basin within 30 days, are considered to have no effect and do not require consultation.
Colorado River Fish Critical Habitat
Counties where effects to Colorado River Fish should be considered.
Carbon County | Fremont County | Lincoln County | Sublette County | Sweetwater County | Uinta County
Additional Information
