Recent overbanking of the Rio Grande has created miles of Rio Grande silvery minnow nursery habitat. Water levels this year enabled Federal water managers to provide sufficient flows that allowed the Rio Grande to leave its banks in areas and return to a more natural state. Overbanking used to be part of the natural spring runoff. Flows are now being decreased and the Rio Grande is returning to lower flows that New Mexicans are more accustomed to seeing.
During minnow salvage operations that began on June 20, biologists discovered that this year's crop of wild minnows had increased dramatically from previous years. They estimated that over 231,000 minnows have been moved from isolated pools and placed into the main channel of the river.
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Regional Director H. Dale Hall said, "I am very pleased with the record number of young minnows discovered during this operation. This improvement in the minnow's population status is the result of federal and non-federal partners working together and proves cooperation is the best way to achieve benefits for endangered species.? Hall said that the habitat improvements, captive propagation and assistance from everyone involved have truly made advancement toward minnow recovery.
The Service is working cooperatively on the salvage of minnows with the Bureau of Reclamation, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Pueblo of Isleta and others to facilitate this endeavor.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. Visit the Service's website at http://www.fws.gov">.
