News Release Archive

Annual Razorback Sucker Harvest in Progress as Lake Mohave Water Levels Lower

Media Contact: Rose Davis , 702-293-8421, jdavis@usbr.gov

For Release: October 13, 2011

The Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado Region is lowering water levels in Lake Mohave, located above Davis Dam on the Colorado River, in part to accommodate management activities related to the recovery of an endangered fish species. Beginning in late September, the lake level was steadily lowered from an elevation of 641 feet and will continue to be lowered to elevation 633 feet by the end of October.

In early November, lake levels will begin rising again and the conservation work will be completed. Current water level information is available at http://www.usbr.gov/lc/riverops.html.

While the Mohave Lake level is lowering, Reclamation’s Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program (MSCP) will be harvesting razorback suckers from several lakeside fish-rearing ponds around Lake Mohave. Each year, tens of thousands of newly hatched razorback sucker larvae are collected from Lake Mohave to be raised in state and federal hatcheries throughout the southwest. Upon reaching the minimum stocking size, about 12 inches, the fish are micro-chip tagged and released into the lower Colorado River or adjacent floodplain backwaters.

The project is part of the Reclamation’s continuing collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and also includes the National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona State University, and the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

The Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program is a multi-agency effort to accommodate current and present water and power needs while conserving species and their habitats along the river. For more information about the LCR MSCP, visit the Internet site at www.lcrmscp.gov/.

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