A new study provides insight into the magnitude of the effect a waterfall has on endangered fishes.
Prolonged drought and increased water use in the southwest United States have led to shrinking reservoirs and the emergence of natural features that are affecting endangered species and river recreation. One feature, a waterfall known as the Piute Farms Waterfall, has formed in an area upstream of Lake Powell where the San Juan River serves as a border between the Navajo Nation to the south and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to the north. Since the late 1980’s, this waterfall formed from interactions among reservoir levels and sedimentation that redirected the San Juan River over a 20-foot high sandstone ledge. Until recently, little was known about its effect on two endangered fishes.
A new study published in the journal River Research and Applications provides insight into the magnitude of the effect this waterfall has on endangered fishes.
“Even though we knew the waterfall existed for decades, nobody knew how it affected the Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker, two endangered species that are the focus of a large interdisciplinary recovery program,” explained Dr. Mark McKinstry, a research biologist from the Bureau of Reclamation and one of the coauthors of the study.
COntinue reading at U.S. DOI, Bureau of Reclamation
Image via U.S. DOI, Bureau of Reclamation
