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The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program) is proposing to conduct floodplain habitat restoration at bottomland sites at the Walter Walker State Wildlife Area (SWA) adjacent to the Colorado River and the Butch Craig Bottomland (BL) site on the Gunnison River. The proposed action would increase the frequency of inundation (flooding) of these bottomland sites by removing and/or lowering constructed earthen levees, which separate the bottomland habitat connections with the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers.

This final Environmental Assessment (EA) evaluates effects on the human environment from removing of earthen levees to increasing the frequency of bottomland habitat inundation at the Walter Walker SWA site and the Butch Craig BL site. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) prepared this EA in cooperation with other federal and state agencies to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act, and related U.S. Department of the Interior policies and regulations. If, based on this analysis, Reclamation concludes the proposed action would have no significant impact on the human environment, preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement would not be required before the action could be implemented