US agencies sued:
Environmentalists on Wednesday accused the Biden’s government of not doing enough to ensure the survival of the Rio Grande silvery minnow as drought tightens its grip on one of the longest rivers in the West.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court, the group WildEarth Guardians asked a judge
to force the Bureau of Reclamation and the Fish and Wildlife Service to reassess the effects of water management activities on the endangered fish.
They also want federal officials to develop enforceable measures to keep dams and diversions along the river’s stretch through New Mexico’s most populated region from jeopardizing the minnow.
The tiny fish was declared endangered nearly 30 years ago and has been the subject of much litigation over the decades. The challenges have only mounted in recent years as demands on the Rio Grande have escalated due to climate change, with snowpack melting sooner and strong winds further drying thirsty soil and limiting the amount of spring runoff that reaches the river.
Like the Colorado River and other western waterways, record-low flows are becoming normal for the Rio Grande.
Parts of the Rio Grande on the southern end of Albuquerque went completely dry earlier this year - something that hasn’t happened in more than 30 years. Teams of biologists scrambled to scoop up minnows from puddles in the riverbed before they dried up.
“It comes as little surprise that silvery minnow populations remain in crisis,” said Daniel Timmons with WildEarth Guardians. “It is time to move beyond Band-Aid solutions for the Middle Rio Grande and think holistically about how to save a living river and all the native species that call the river home.”
Timmons said the status quo is a recipe for extinction for the minnow.
The Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation declined Wednesday to comment on the pending litigation. (AP)