224 



XXX. At page VIII-22 the Recovery Team correctly documents that 

 the present collection and transport program has not 

 prevented the declines in survival rates or adult returns 

 which have lead to the ESA listings. An examination of the 

 current program raises concerns that in near average to 

 above average flows the implementation of transportation may 

 have contributed to the decline, p 24. 



XXXI. Another consideration is that wild fish may be more 

 susceptible to crowding and disease in barges, 

 therefore barging may have greater negative effect on 

 wild stocks, p 24. 



XXXII. The Recovery Team correctly states that flow 

 augmentation can and should play a significant role in 

 the improvement of downstream passage survival in the 

 near-term. However, they have taken a major step 

 backward by endorsing the storage volume based flow 

 augmentation utilized in 1993. Using flow targets 

 incorporates a base flow to build upon with 

 augmentation, p 26. 



XXXIII. The drawdown of reservoirs is certainly not a 

 guaranteed solution at this point in time but it is 

 worthy of serious consideration because it involves 

 working with known quantities — the existing dams, and 

 there is potential to conduct meaningful evaluations in 

 the near future. Also, it is appropriate to recognize 

 that draw down is not a near-term solution and the 

 implementation of draw down will require substantial 

 modification to the dams involved. This will take 

 several years, but that should not disqualify this 

 concept from serious consideration as a long-term 

 solution, p 26. 



XXXIV. Until improved performances can be demonstrated, we 

 view transportation as a means of avoiding severe 

 adverse outmigration conditions during low flow years 

 for some species, but not as a technique with general 

 application for all species under all flow regimes, p 

 28. 



XXXV. These statements are nearly unfathomable! How can the 

 Recovery Team indicate reliance on the existing 

 transportation system for near-term recovery when they 

 have previously acknowledged that "the collection and 

 transport program for smolts has not prevented declines 

 in survival rates or numbers of returning adults." Are 

 they trying to tell us that recovery will be 



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