The Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission Under thP Western Water Policy Review Act of 1992 (PJ,. 102-57:'i, Title XXX), Conr,'Tess directed the Prm::ident to undertake a comprehensivP review of Federal activities in the 19 Vies tern State8 that directly or indirectl.v affect the allocation and use of water n,,sourn·s, whether surface •ir subsurface, and t.n submit a report of findings to the congressional committees having jurisdiction over Fedpral Water Programs. As directed by the statute•, the President appointed the We;,,Lern Water Policy Review Advisory Commission. The Commission was compo:cwd of 22 member,;, 10 appointed hv the President, including the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of the Army, and 12 nwmbL·rs of Cong:re"" serving ex-officio by virtue of being the chair or ranking minority member of the 6 congressional committees and :,;ubconunittPPS with jurisdiction ov(-'r the appropriations and programs ofv.-atPr H!i'(>UITes agencies. A complete roster is provided below. Commission Membership Denise Fort, Chair Albuquerque, New tvfrxico Appointed Members: Huali Chai Patrick O'Toole Secn•tm·y of tlw Interior San ,Jose, California Savery. \Vyoming Washington, D.C. Represented hy· ,John H. Davidson ,Jack RobertcSon .J,w Sax, September 1991:i Den·rnher 1896 Vermillion, South Dakota Portlund, Ort>gr,n Patricia ,J. BE"nek1.:, Decembc,r 199(-i - ,John 1:<:chohmvk Kenneth L Salazar Se<-r<:tary of the Army Boulder, Colorado T)pnver, Colorado Wa;.;hin1',rtun, DC Repn,sented by: Janet Neuman Ur. .JrJhn H. Zirschkv Portland, Oregon Members of Congress (Ex-officio Members): U.S. Senate: Committee on J•:neq:,;y and Natural l{e;-;nurce;; Hon. Frank Murkowski, Chairman Hon. Dale Bumpers, Ranking Mirwritv Memlwr Hon. ,J. Bennett ,Tohnston (September 199G to ,January 1997 J U.S. Senate: Subcommittee on Water and l'ower, Committee nn Energv and Natural Resou1-cPs Hon . .fon Ky!, Chairman Hou. Daniel K. Akaka, Rankmg Minurit.y Memlwr Hon. Larry E. Craig (Seplemher Hl9:'i to ,January 1997 J Hon. Bill Bradley 1Sept.-,mhcr l~~Jf:i to ,January EJ971 U.S. Senate: Committee on Appropnation;-; Hon. Ted Stevens, Chairman Hnn. Robert C. Byrd. Hanking Minority -~✓Iemiwr Hon. Mark 0. Hatfield (Sepiember 1995 to ,Januai-y 1997, U.S. House of Representat.ives: Cnmmiltee on Re,sourn•:-: Hon. Don Young, Chairman Hon. George MillPL Ranking Minor·ity t,lernbn U.S. House of Representatives: Committee rm Trnn:-1portatwn and Infrastructure Hon. Bud Shuster., Chairman Hon .. fame::: L. Oberslnr. Ranking Minnnty Member U.S. House of Representatives: Commitlee 011 Appropriation" Hon, Bob Living,;ton, Chairman Hon. David R. Obey. Ranking Minority :-..1cmber This is an Independent Report to the Commission The report published herein wrn, prnpared for the Commission a:,c part of iti:' information gathering ar-tivity. The views, conclusions, and recommendation.:< are iho2e of the authorfa.1 and an• not intended to represent. the views of Lhe Commission, the Administrntion, or ;vfomheni of ( :serving on the Commis.sion. I'ubhcuti,Jn by the Commission does noL imply endorsement of the author':c finding:c or recommendations. This report is publisbed to share with the pubiic tlw information and ideas gathered and con:-iderec! by the Commission in its deliberations. The Commission's view;-;, conclusions, and recommendations will be set forth in the Commic1sion's own repm-t. Additional copies of this publication nrny be obtained /rom the Natwna! Technical lnf'onnatwn Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia, 22161; phone 703-487-4650. Aquatic Ecosystems Symposium Organized and Edited by W.L. Minckley Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona Report to the Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission September 1997 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Carla D' Antonio,Walter Courtenay, Mark Dane, Bill Dietrich, Tom Dowling, Connie Fontes, Jana Fry, Kailan Mooney, John Sabo, Vance Vredenburg, Jonathan Levine, Edie Marsh-Matthews, Wayne Minshall, Bob Naiman, Steve Norris, Dixie Pierson, Dale Pontius, Bill Rainey, Patti Sowka, Jack Stanford, Peter Unmack, and others-students, assistants, colleagues, and friends at a number of institutions­ provided welcome and needed assistance, suggestions, comments, and review that led to successful completion of papers in this symposium. Dale Pontius and Pat Chase assisted at Arizona State University in maintaining the flow of information .and making arrangement required for a successful symposium, and for production of this document. Finally, Jules Burton gave mightily of her time and energy to format and create the final product, and is to be commended. The presenters, authors, contributors, and especially the organizer of this sympo­ sium thank them all, and the last takes responsibility for any errors or misinterpre­ tations that may exist in written contributions. ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS CONVERSION TABLES Acronyms in text in addition to standardized designations for States are as follows: ACE, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; BLM, U.S. Bureau of Land Management; BOD, biological Area oxygen demand; BR, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; C, carbon; DOI, U.S. Department of Interior; EPA, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; ESA, Endangered Species Act of Square feet (ft2) X 0.093 = Square 1973, as amended; Fe, iron; FEMA, Federal Emergency Management Administration; FERC, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; FS, U.S. Forest Service; FWS, U.S. Fish . Meters (m2) X 10.77 = ft2 and Wildlife Service; GS, U.S. Geological Survey; HCP, Habitat Conservation Plan; Acres X 0.405 = Hectares (ha) X 2.471 LTER, Long-term Ecological Research site (NSF); MOU, memorandum of understanding; = acres N, nitrogen; NEPA, National Environmental Policy Act; NGO, Non-governmental Square Miles (mi2) X 2.592 = Square Organization; NAM, National Monument; NP, National Park; NWR, National Wildlife Kilometers (km2) X 0.386 = mi2 Refuge; NAS, National Academy of Sciences; NAWQA, National Water-quality Assessment Program; NBS, U.S. National Biological Survey (Service); NRCS, U.S. Distance Natural Resource Conservation Service; NPS, U.S. National Park Service; NMFS, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service; NRC, National Research Council; NSF, National Inches (in) X 2.540 = Centimeters (cm) Science Foundation; P, phosphorus; RIP, Recovery Implementation Plan; and TNC, The X 0.394 = in Nature Conservancy. Feet (ft) X 0.305 = Meters (m) X 3.281 = ft Scientific names of plants and animals in text (excluding microorganisms and domestic Miles X 1.610 = Kilometers (km) X livestock) are in an APPENDIX. 0.621 = mi Mass Parts Per Million = Milligrams/Unit Weight or Volume (e.g., mg.1-1) Pounds (lbs) X 0.454 = Kilograms (kg) X 2.205 = lbs Volume Cubic Feet Per Second (cfs) X 0.028 = Cubic Meters Per Second (m3·s-1) X 35.714 = cfs Acre Feet (af) X 1233.49 = Cubic Meters (m3) X 8.107 X 1o4 = af TA B L E 0 F CONTENTS iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ACRONYMS ii CONVERSION TABLES ii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES V CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTORY REMARKS CHAPTER II: SUSTAINABILITY AND CHANGING PHYSICAL LANDSCAPES WILLIAM L. GRAF, WITH KATHRINE K. HIRSCHBOECK, RICHARD A. MARSTON, JOHN PITUCK, ANO JOHN C, SCHMIDT Introduction 3 Historic Physical Conditions and Policies 3 Present Conditions and Policies 8 Issues and Recommendations 10 Conclusions 14 References 15 CHAPTER Ill: SUSTAINABILITY OF WESTERN RIPARIAN ECOSYSTEMS DUNCAN T. PATTEN, WITH JULIET C. STROMBERG, MICHAEL L. SCOTT AND MATTHEW K. CHEW Introduction 17 Riparian Ecosystem Processes and Functions 17 Controlling Factors 18 Water Supply 18 Landscape Characteristics 19 Human Impacts 19 Changes in Water Availability 19 Landscape Use and Change 20 Biological Alterations 22 Issues and Recommendations 23 Conclusions 28 References 29 CHAPTER IV: SUSTAINABILITY OF WESTERN WATERSHEDS: NUTRIENTS AND PRODUCTIVITY NANCY 8. GRIMM, WITH STUART G. FISHER, STANLEY V. GREGORY, G. RICHARD MARZOLF, DIANE M. McKNIGHT, FRANK J. TRISKA, AND H. MAURICE VALETT Introduction 33 Background: Nutrients and Primary Productivity 34 Historical Conditions in Western Rivers 36 State of Knowledge 36 Status of Monitoring and Database 38 Present Conditions 38 Prognosis 39 TA B L E 0 F CONTENTS (cont.) iv Issues and Recommendations 41 Conclusions 43 References 44 CHAPTER V: SUSTAINING OF WESTERN AQUATIC FOOD WEBS MARY E. POWER, WITH SARAH J. KUPFERBERG, G. WAYNE MINSHALL, MANUEL C. MOLLES AND MICHAEL S. PARKER Introduction 47 Organisms in "Healthy" Food Webs as Critical Resources 47 Aquatic Foodweb Studies and Function (A Primer) 47 Linkages among Aquatic Ecosystems and Watersheds 47 Ecological Services Provided by "Healthy" Aquatic Foodwebs 48 Historic and Ongoing Degradation of Habitats and Food Webs 49 Flow Regulation and Altered Hydrological Regimes 49 Alien (Non-native) Species 50 Loss of Floodplain Habitats 51 Sediment Loading 52 Some Impacts from Mining 53 Salinization and Pollution from Agricullture 53 Groundwater Extraction/Irrigation: Lowered Water Tables/Salinization 54 Consequences of Change: Why we should be Concerned 55 Issues andRecommendations 55 Conclusions 57 References 58 CHAPTER VI: SUSTAINABILITY OF WESTERN NATIVE FISH RESOURCES W. L. MINCKLEY, WITH JAMES E. DEACON, PAUL C. MARSH, WILLIAM J. MATTHEWS, AND PETER 8. MOYLE Introduction 65 Patterns of Diversity 65 Problems of Perception: The Value of Non-sport Fishes 66 Pattern of Environmental Change and Native Fish Responses 66 Present Conditions 68 Prognosis 73 Issues and Recommendations 73 Conclusions 75 References 76 CHAPTER VII: TOWARD A ROBUST WATER POLICY FOR WESTERN USA: A SYNTHESIS OF THE SCIENCE