Biological Opinions - Bureau of Reclamation

factor limiting listed sucker recovery in the Upper Klamath Basin. If water quality is
improved in Keno Reservoir, this area would likely support a substantial population of adult
suckers and/or provide habitat to support larval and juvenile suckers that eventually will
return to UKL as adults. Therefore, the effects of the proposed action, combined with future
State, tribal, and private actions, will only result in beneficial cumulative effects to listed
suckers over the next 10 years; however, none of the benefits can be quantified at this time
because specific project details are not available.
9 LOST RIVER SUCKER AND SHORTNOSE SUCKER CRITICAL HABITAT
9.1 Status and Environmental Baseline of Critical Habitat
On December 11, 2012, the USFWS published a final rule designating critical habitat for the
LRS and the SNS (77 FR 73740). The designation included two critical habitat units (CHUs) for
each species and the units include a mix of Federal, State and private lands. The Upper Klamath
Lake Critical Habitat Unit 1, situated in Klamath County, Oregon, includes UKL and Agency
Lake, the Link River and upper Klamath River downstream to Keno Dam, as well as portions of
the Williamson and Sprague Rivers, for a total of approximately 90,000 ac (36,422 ha) and 120
river miles. Unit 1 is the same for both species with the exception that, for the LRS, the unit
extends up the Sprague River to the Beatty Gap east of Beatty (near RM 75), whereas for the
SNS, Unit 1 extends up the Sprague River only as far as Braymill near RM 8.
The Lost River Basin Critical Habitat Unit 2 is situated in Klamath and Lake Counties, Oregon,
and Modoc County, California. It includes Clear Lake and its main tributary, Willow Creek, for
both the LRS and the SNS, and Gerber Reservoir and its main tributaries for the SNS only, for a
total of approximately 33,000 ac (13,355 ha) and 88 river miles (142 km). Additionally, there
are differences in the amount of upstream critical habitat in Willow Creek for the two species.
For the LRS, critical habitat includes Willow Creek and its tributary, Boles Creek, upstream to
Avanzino Reservoir in California. For the SNS, critical habitat extends up Willow Creek to
Boles Creek and upstream past Fletcher Creek, and includes Willow, Fourmile, and Wildhorse
Creeks in California, and Willow Creek to its East Fork in Oregon (Figure 9.1).
It is important to note that the action area for the proposed action encompasses the entire critical
habitat designation for the LRS and the SNS.
This is the first Section 7(a)(2) consultation on potential effects to LRS and SNS critical habitat
since the December 11, 2012, designation.
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