Environmental Impacts
The cold and sediment-lacking water released from the Flaming Gorge Dam, which averages from 800 cubic feet (23 m3) to 4,700 cubic feet (130 m3) per second, has caused loss of sandbars, sediment, and as a result crucial habitat of four species of native fish, in the lower Green River. Introduced brown trout, rainbow trout, and lake trout have caused increased damage to these habitats. On August 28, 2008, the Bureau of Reclamation prepared an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) on the operation of the dam to meet the river flow required by the Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species and Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The four native fishes affected by Flaming Gorge and Glen Canyon dams are: the razorback sucker, Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, and bonytail chub.
In 2006, the dam began a release pattern more similar to historical discharges along the Green River, intended to assist the dropping native fish populations.
Read more about this topic: Flaming Gorge Dam
Famous quotes containing the word impacts:
“We are no longer in a state of growth; we are in a state of excess. We are living in a society of excrescence.... The boil is growing out of control, recklessly at cross purposes with itself, its impacts multiplying as the causes disintegrate.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)