Environmental Impact Research Program. Application of the Habitat Evaluation Procedures in Cypress Bayou Basin, Texas.

Construction of a dam on either the Little or Black Cypress Bayou, Texas, is being evaluated by the US Army Engineer District, Fort Worth, to provide water resource benefits flood control, water supply, recreation in the Cypress Bayou Basin. The Habitat Evaluation Procedure HEP was used to determine fish habitat gains in the proposed reservoirs, estimate losses in fish habitat resulting from inundation of portions of the Little and Black Cypress bayous, and recommend methods to compensate for stream habitat losses caused by the project. Habitat Suitability Index HSD4I models composed of three physical habitat variables depth, velocity, and cover were developed from field and literature data for nine species of riverine fishes including spotted bass, longear sunfish, grass pickerel, flathead catfish, blacktail shiner, ironcolor shiner, brook silverside, spotted sucker, and slough darter. These species were selected from biological guilds, and they represented 87 percent of the species community. The longear sunfish, grass pickerel, ironcolor shiner, and slough darter preferred shallow, nonflowing water with abundant instream cover, whereas the spotted bass, flathead catfish, blacktail shiner, and spotted sucker liked relatively deeper, fastflowing water usually associated with large instream objects such as cypress trees and log jams. The brook silverside was often found in both types of habitat. Keywords Compensation Fishes Habitat evaluation Impact Lake River.