HIGHLIGHT: NEW MEXICO

Albuquerque: For the first time in four decades, America’s fifth-longest river went dry in Albuquerque last week, taking with it habitat for the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow – a shimmery, pinky-sized native fish. Although summer storms have made the river wet again, experts warn the drying this far north is a sign of an increasingly fragile water supply, and current conservation measures may not be enough to save the minnow and provide water to farms, homes and parks. The minnow inhabits only about 7% of its historic range and has seen a century of habitat loss as the nearly 1,900 mile-long Rio Grande was dammed, diverted and channeled from Colorado to New Mexico, Texas and Mexico.

AP Fish biologists work to rescue endangered Rio Grande silvery minnows from pools of water in the dry riverbed Tuesday in Albuquerque, N.M.