New Mexico Project
Decision support tools to guide environmental flows and habitat management in the middle Rio Grande River
August 2024 - September 2028
Personnel
- Hyun Seok Yoon, Student / Post Doc
- Abby Lawson, Principal Investigator
- Kasey Pregler, Principal Investigator
- Charles Yackulic, Non-PI Collaborator
- Thomas Archdeacon, Non-PI Collaborator
- Eric Gonzalez, Non-PI Collaborator
- Catherine Murphy, Non-PI Collaborator
- Kenneth Richard, Non-PI Collaborator
Participating Agencies
- Bureau of Reclamation
Water is a limited resource in the desert southwest, in which agencies are tasked with allocating water for multiple purposes such as agriculture, residential use, and environmental flows. Climate change is expected to further exacerbate this issue in the Middle Rio Grande River, which creates conservation challenges for aquatic species. The Rio Grande Silvery Minnow is a federally endangered fish species. Given the competing demands for water, managers must allocate water for maximal benefit, often under uncertain hydrograph conditions) and identify creative solutions for population recovery, such as creation of nursery habitat. The project is a collaboration of researchers across multiple agencies and includes the US Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A useful decision-making model will be developed to inform water, habitat, and conservation management decisions on the Rio Grande River to benefit the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow population.