watervulnerability

Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest Watershed Vulnerability Assessment, Rocky
Mountain Region (R2)
Figure 13. Fens, Wetlands, Riparian Areas, and Waterbodies
Coldwater Fisheries - miles of third order or higher perennial streams compared to the miles of perennial
and intermittent streams in a subwatershed. An inventory of existing coldwater fisheries does not exist for
the GMUG. We assumed that third order or higher perennial streams (not including crenulations) were
likely to support salmonid fishes (brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), brown trout (Salmo trutta), rainbow
trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and cutthroat trout (O. clarkii)) and associated fisheries. There are
approximately 2,300 miles of third order or higher perennial streams identified on the GMUG. Figure 14
displays these streams. (Note: not all perennial streams on the GMUG are considered to be third order or
higher, so some fisheries habitat may have been overlooked in this evaluation. Lake and reservoir
fisheries were not included because an inventory is lacking.)
Cutthroat Trout Fisheries - miles of streams occupied by cutthroat trout per miles of coldwater fisheries
streams by subwatershed. Native cutthroat trout populations on the GMUG include both the Colorado
River and greenback lineages of Colorado River cutthroat trout (O. c. pleuriticus). Known occurrences of
conservation populations of native cutthroat trout were included in this analysis. Conservation
populations are those having less than 10 % non-native genes (Hirsch et al. 2006). These populations
represent the highest conservation priority for fisheries resources on the GMUG. Figure 14 shows the
extent of known cutthroat trout conservation populations.
79 Assessing the Vulnerability of Watersheds to Climate Change