Wildlife competing with people for priority in plans for Colorado River’s future

Humpback Chub. (Photo: Arizona Game & Fish Department)

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Setting the course for a Colorado River with less water is an enormous challenge that’s not likely to satisfy everyone. And climate change has created a collision course with wildlife.

The river isn’t just managed to accommodate people. Governments are also responsible for the ecosystems that sustain fish, birds and other animals. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is an important player in the battle that’s ahead. A letter submitted by USFWS to the Bureau of Reclamation has as many questions as answers.

Four fish species are at the forefront: “The endangered Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, and bonytail, along with the threatened humpback chub, evolved in the Colorado River basin and exist nowhere else on earth,” according to the U.S. National Park Service. According to USFWS, the Lower Basin is home to 27 Endangered Species Act “listed and sensitive species.”

As agencies weigh in on how to manage the river in the future, they are asking Reclamation to tell them precisely the water conditions they might have to deal with in protecting wildlife. It’s uncharted territory.

Reclamation is working to build a new agreement as a set of rules from 2007 nears expiration. The agency has released a segment of […]

Full article: www.8newsnow.com