"Biologists weighing, measuring and tagging endanged fish pulled from the decades-old Old Charley water control structure, Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, Utah." - Reclamation photo by David Speas.
WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Reclamation today announced a $21 million investment from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for endangered species recovery and conservation in the Colorado River Basin. Project funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will support the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program, the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program and the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program.
“This funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will aid us in fulfilling our mission of safeguarding and responsibly managing water resources,” said Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. “With this investment, each of our programs will have the opportunity to advance initiatives aimed at protecting species affected by drought, contributing to environmental sustainability.”
The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program and San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program work to recover endangered and threatened fish in the Upper Colorado River Basin while water development proceeds in accordance with Federal and state laws and interstate compacts. The Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program was created to balance the use of the Colorado River water resources in Arizona, California and Nevada with the conservation of native species and their habitats.
The selected projects are:
- Colorado: $1.2 million for the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program to design a fish exclusion feature at Lake Catamount, roughly 8.5 miles south of Steamboat Springs. The feature will prevent nonnative Northern pike from escaping downstream to critical habitat for threatened and endangered fish in the Yampa River.
- Utah and Colorado: $2.6 million for the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program to address needed repairs that will improve performance and efficiency at the Ouray National Fish Hatchery’s Grand Valley and Randlett units in Colorado and Utah, respectively, and enhance production of threatened and endangered fish for stocking purposes at Wahweap State Hatchery in Utah. Utah: $1 million for the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program to replace the water control structure at Old Charley Wash, a floodplain wetland near the Green River that provides habitat for rearing threatened and endangered fish.
- New Mexico: $5.2 million for the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program to design and construct a fish passage structure on the San Juan River roughly 17 miles west of Farmington, New Mexico. The structure would allow threatened and endangered fish to migrate upstream beyond an Arizona Public Service Company diversion weir that currently limits fish passage.
- Arizona, California: $10 million for the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program to build rearing ponds for native fishes at the Yuma Meadows Conservation Area.
- Arizona: $1 million for the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program to study fish entrainment at Glen Canyon Dam.
This funding builds on a previous $20 million investment announced in 2022 for environmental projects.
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Reclamation is investing $8.3 billion over five years for water infrastructure projects, including rural water, water storage, conservation and conveyance, nature-based solutions, dam safety, water purification and reuse, and desalination. Since Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was signed, Reclamation has announced more than $3 billion for more than 440 projects.
