Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Utah
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Rio Grande Silvery Minnow have experienced dramatic reductions in range and abundance, ultimately being listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Their range is currently restricted to the Middle Rio Grande in New Mexico, where habitat degradation and hydrologic alterations present continuing challenges to silvery minnow conservation. Water managers are tasked with meeting many different and sometimes competing objectives with a limited supply of water in the basin. In this project, we are examining the relationship between annual hydrologic conditions and silvery minnow productivity, and will ultimately use our model to examine the relative performance of alternative water management approaches in the basin. This project is a collaboration with researchers and managers across multiple agencies and stakeholder groups, including the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, and New Mexico Interstate Stream Commision. Using the model developed in this project will help managers determine how likely silvery minnow conservation goals are to be met under alternative management options, informing decisions to benefit this endangered species in the presence of great uncertainty.