Centennial Wetlands Native Aquatice Species Prospective Recovery Satellite Facility

Home Browse Search

DEW ER�THEWEST THE DENVER POST Thursday, March 16, 1995 SECTION B i t fish S6uth a es rare in trouble By Mark Obmascik Denver Post Environment Writer Solution sought before fells step in Populations of several rare fish in the South Platte River have plum- meted in the past 15 years, increasing the chance that they will be included on the federal list of endangered spe- cies — and add new restrictions to metro - Denver utilities and Eastern Plains farmers. State biologists said they still don't know why the fish are in trouble, though they suspect river pollution and water -use policies by cities and farmers that have dramatically changed, the. natural flows of the South Platte. At a Denver conference yesterday of more than 100 water managers, ir- rigators; regulators and environmen- talists, the message was clear: Fewer rare fish spell big problems for water users. "Business as usual means there will be new federal (endangered) spe- cies listed in virtually every river ba- sin in the state," said Eddie Koch - man, chief aquatics official for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. "We'll have to spend more money and more time on more regulations." Wildlife researchers said at least 10 South Platte fish could become candidates for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act. That's the same powerful law that led to major cutbacks in logging on pub- lic lands in the Pacific Northwest to protect'.the northern spotted owl. In the upper Colorado River, an ex- isting drive to save four federally protected endangered fish species is expected to cost more than $100 mil- lion and make it much tougher to build new dams on the Western Slope. The rare fish in the South Platte River, the metro area's main source of drinking water, haven't yet been added to the official endangered spe- cies list. They include the suckermouth min- now, which was found in 35 percent of all sampled river sites in 1978, but just 0.2 percent of the sites sampled last year. Other troubled species, are the brassy minnow, stoneroller, common shiner, northern redbelly dace; lake chub, stonecat, orange- spotted sun- fish, plains minnow and plains top - minnow. "The evidence is pretty over- whelming that our aquatic ecosys- tems are in terrible shape," said Da- vid Harrison, a member of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Conference organizers, which in- cluded the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and Department of Public Health and Environment, said their goal is to help the fish pop- ulations grow enough to prevent them from becoming federally protected endangered species. But biologists didn't expect that to be easy. Levels of nitrate pollution — a Help sought to save threatened South Platte fish MINNOWS from Page 1 B product of city sewage and farm fertilizers — have climbed steadi- ly in most of the South Platte, state biologists said. And natural riverflows have been changed so much by intensive farm irrigation that sections of the South Platte sometimes carry as much water in the dead of winter as in the throes of spring snowmelt. Both these artificial changes could be hurtingjish populations, biologists said. "The flow is highly modified and it has an incredible load of nutri- ents," said division of wildlife wa- ter quality specialist John Woodl- ing. State officials said they hope to persuade utilities, farmers and en- vironmental groups to work to- gether on behalf of, the rare fish to prevent a federal takeover. The decline in native fish spe- cies comes at a politically turbu- lent time for the Endangered Spe- cies Act. Some congressional Republicans have proposed a mor- atorium on the addition of new en- dangered species t$ the federal list, and others are pitching a ma- jor overhaul of the law to weaken its power. But state officials said they ex- pect some version of the Endan- gered Species Act to survive — and offer new challenges for regu- lators trying to save the rare South Platte fish. "This is an absolutely critical is- sue to the future of Colorado," said Jim Lochhead, director of the state department of natural re- sources. "When we are dealing with species under the Endangered Species Act, we are dealing with species in very, very bad shape. Let's get ahead of the listing curve." Please see MINNOWS on 4B i