2018 Project Summaries
Amargo Creek Connectivity and Habitat Enhancement Project, NM
Amargo Creek is the largest tributary of the Navajo River historically supporting healthy population’s native Colorado River Basin fish species throughout 20 miles of creek. This project reconnects the Navajo River with the eight miles of Amargo Creek on the JAN Reservation. This project used large rock and woody debris to enhance habitat while reopening up and downstream passage of migrating Colorado River Basin Fishes throughout watershed.
Bylas Springs and the endangered Gila Topminnow: Habitat Restoration and Reintroduction Project, AZ
These three small springs adjacent to the Gila River all historically contained Gila Topminnow. This project removed invasive plant species, hydrologic and riparian restoration, habitat and fish population monitoring and the reintroduction of the federally endangered Gila Topminnow to fishless springs.
Tularosa Water System, NM
This project will install five miles of riparian exclosure fencing on the west side of the perennial Tularosa River, thus expanding the existing riparian exclosure to improve effectiveness. To further conserve the Tularosa River Corridor, riparian plants such as willows, cottonwood trees, and other native riparian plants will be planted along the riverbank and associated drainage's to stabilize the soil and capture sediment.
UCRB Innovative and Science-Based Desert Tributaries Restoration: Price River Initiative, UT
This project restored and enhanced 10-15 miles of critical habitat within the river. The restoration approach included; Providing necessary habitat to ensure persistence of native fish and vegetation, recovering and sustaining natural habitat-forming processes, such as lateral channel movement, a beaver dam-building activity, and inputs of large wood, providing necessary and sufficient flow to prevent dewatering and recover natural channel movement and other habitat-forming processes, and conducting sufficient monitoring of restoration impacts to assess the restoration actions.
Gila Topminnow Habitat Restoration Project, AZ
This project constructed cattle exclusion fencing around a spring that sustains one of the few remaining populations of endangered Gila Topminnow and Longfin Dace. By preventing cattle from accessing the riparian habitat around the springs the negative impacts of increased sedimentation, loss of vegetative cover and reduced water quality from excessive nutrients will be reduced.