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Arizona Fishery Resources Office |
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Restoring Native Fish and Their Habitats
AZFRO works with Federal, State, and Private Partners to Monitor Endangered Rio Yaqui Fishes
Fossil Creek: Restoring Flow to Benefit Native Fish Therefore, renovation of these stock tanks is a critical component to the success of stream renovation plans for Fossil Creek, which are ultimately intended to benefit the resident native fish community. In 2004, AZFRO plans to renovate 5 stock tanks within the Fossil Creek watershed to eliminate nonnative fish and crayfish, and potentially increase the ability of these stock tanks to hold water in drought years, which is an important first step toward reaching the long-term goal of stabilizing extant and establishing new populations of endangered Chiricahua leopard frogs. Stillman Lake : Renovating Aquatic Habitat to Benefit Native Fishes The upper 72 km of the Verde River is one of only a few remaining undamed rivers in Arizona that flow year-round. The upper Verde River is home to several native fish species; however, they have to compete for food and shelter with non-native fish species. Stillman Lake is an approximate 20 acre spring-fed lake located in the headwater reach of the upper Verde River . Recent surveys of Stillman Lake resulted in the capture of non-native predatory and competitory fish such as channel catfish, green sunfish, common carp, and red shiner. Normally Stillman Lake is not connected to the Verde River , however, during high runoff events, AZFRO Prioritizes Watersheds to Assist in Determining Future Conservation Efforts Arizona 's diverse landscape and arid environment provide many opportunities for watershed-level restoration efforts that are integrated with the riparian/aquatic interface.
The desert pupfish, Cyprinodon macularius macularius , once a wide-ranging and abundant species throughout southern Arizona , is now reduced to a few, highly localized natural populations in southern California and northern Mexico . In order for this species' to be recovered, remaining populations need to be secured, maintained, replicated, and re-established in the most natural habitat within the species historic range. In 1999 and 2000, two desert pupfish refugia populations were established, one each, on the Cibola (37 pupfish) and Imperial (23 pupfish) National Wildlife Refuges in southwestern Arizona . In October of 2001, AZFRO completed population estimates in each pond and determined that 668 pupfish were present in the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge pond and 276 pupfish were present in the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge pond. An approximate 18- and 12-fold increase in a little over 2 years. Today, AZFRO continues to monitor these refugia populations of desert pupfish as part of our ongoing efforts to work with our partners to recover this unique Arizona native fish. |
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In 1998, El Coronado Ranch owners Josiah and Valer Austin entered into Arizona 's first Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), which allowed cattle ranch operations to continue while at the same time instituting conservation measures for the federally endangered Yaqui chub (Gila purpurea). The El Coronado Ranch HCP and Implementation Agreement require that monitoring and reporting on the success of conservation measures occur annually for the first five years of the permit. In the fall of 2003, the Arizona Fishery Resources Office, with assistance from San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Forest Service, and University of Arizona biologists, completed annual fish sampling on both the El Coronado Ranch and in West Turkey Creek.
Fossil Creek, a major tributary to the Verde River and home to several of Arizona 's native fish, has had 95% of its flow diverted for hydropower production since the early 1900s. However, due to an agreement between several environmental groups and Arizona Public Service (APS; the company who owns and operates the hydropower plants), APS has agreed to decommission the power plants and return the historical flow into Fossil Creek. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has proposed to renovate sections of Fossil Creek to remove nonnative fish prior to the return of full flows. However, there is a concern that several of the stock tanks located in the watershed will continue to provide a source of nonnative fish and crayfish during high flow events. 
Stillman Lake is connected to the Verde River , allowing non-native fish to move downstream into areas occupied by native fish. In 2004, AZFRO will remove non-native fish from Stillman Lake by pumping it dry. Once renovated, AZFRO will introduce native fish such as roundtail chub, speckled dace, and endangered razorback sucker in the hopes that over time these fish will become established, reproduce, and during future high flow events, native, rather than non-native fish will move into downstream habitats.
AZFRO completed the first of several phases by developing a watershed-level Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) using several biological matrices [e.g., % species at risk, number of native fish species present (historic, current, and % intactness), and native ranid frog abundance] for Arizona 's 84 watersheds. This IBI and subsequent ranking identifies watersheds with the greatest conservation potential and will help AZFRO and others develop strategies that can be used to focus restoration/monitoring within the state of Arizona . The second phase of this project will examine relationships between a full suite of land- and water-use parameters (e.g., number of dams, roads, wells, etc.) and watershed IBI score. 
Last updated: June 21, 2007
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