Conservancy District Wants Minnow Study ; Protected Status May Be Revisited
Posted on: Friday, 30 September 2005, 21:00 CDT
By Journal Staff Report
The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District is calling for a study of how the silvery minnow has been able to survive, and possibly even thrive, during the drought.
The agency's board of directors, with an eye toward downgrading the minnow's protected status under the Endangered Species Act, passed a resolution Monday asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Act Collaborative Program for the study.
That might not be a bad idea, said Pete David, manager of the collaborative program.
"I don't think we've done a lot of research on what exactly does the minnow need," he said, but added it is a difficult question to answer.
More than 600,000 minnows have been rescued from drying stretches of the Rio Grande this year. That means there are tens of millions of the tiny fish in the river, district biologist Sterling Grogan told the board.
If the fish was "downlisted" from endangered to threatened, the conservancy district would have more flexibility to manage Rio Grande water for the benefit of farmers as well as wildlife, said Chief Engineer Subhas Shah.
Source: Albuquerque Journal
Related Articles
- Endangered Minnow Said Rebounding in NC
- WWF's Top 10 Rivers at Risk, Rio Grande Makes List
- High Levels of Toxic PCBs Found in Rio Grande Fish
- Project Will Give Rare Fish a Habitat ; Part of Rio Grande To Be Reshaped
- RailAmerica Completes the Sale of Its San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad
- Conservation Strategies Included in Rio Grande Water Plan
- Rio Grande Valley Groups May Receive Technology Fund
- Cheating Hearts Caught on Radio in Texas' Rio Grande Valley
- Rio Grande Valley Television Undergoes Changes
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds