San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program

Implementation of the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program (Recovery Program) was identified as a reasonable and prudent alternative for the 1991 Animas-La Plata Project biological opinion, which created Colorado's Lake Nighthorse. Following this, the Recovery Program was established through a cooperative agreement in 1992 and currently includes signatories from Colorado, New Mexico, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the Navajo Nation. The Recovery Program's goals are to recover the listed and Colorado Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius) and Razorback Sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), while new and existing water development projects continue in compliance with state, tribal and federal law on the San Juan River.

The Recovery Program consists of partners who commit to the recovery of fishes listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and in addition to the above lists signatories, include water users and conservation groups. Each Recovery Program partner participates in both a Coordination and Biology committee and the committees are responsible for designing, implementing, and evaluating recovery actions. The Biology Committee provides technical support to the Recovery Program while the Coordination Committee is responsible for policies, direction, procedure, and organization.

The San Juan River Basin is home to 9 native fish species, including the listed Colorado Pikeminnow, and Razorback Sucker. These two  fishes are found only in the Colorado River system.