Congress approves 7-year extension of endangered fish recovery programs in Colorado and other Western states
Four of Colorado鈥檚 endangered and threatened fish species will benefit from renewed funding wrapped into the 2025 Defense Act heading to President Joe Biden鈥檚 desk
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/ Courtesy Photo
For nearly three decades, Colorado and other Western states have been working to recover several species of endangered fish in the Colorado and San Juan river basins. Congress this week approved a bill that will renew the program’s federal funding for seven more years.
The bill was included in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which is heading to President Joe Biden’s desk. Sens. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, sponsored the . Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., sponsored the in the House.
“Local communities, Tribes, water users, and Congress 鈥� we’re all in to protect our native fish and rivers,” Hickenlooper stated in a . “These programs are tried and true. Our extension will help continue them to save our fish and make our rivers healthier.”
Federal authorization for the two fish recovery programs 鈥� the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming as well as the San Juan Recovery Implementation Program in Colorado and New Mexico 鈥� expired this September.
The reauthorization act, however, will extend the programs through 2031, authorizing the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to contribute up to $92 million in the next seven years. The bill also adds up to $50 million for capital projects that support infrastructure improvements to recover the threatened and endangered species.
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The annual operating costs for the programs were historically funded by Colorado River Storage Project hydropower revenues, which have diminished over time due to drought, declining reservoir storage, increased costs and more, according to a September . This has required the federal and state appropriations and contributions to increase to cover costs, it adds. The fish recovery programs also rely on in-kind contributions and funding from other partners.
Both programs have sought to recover populations of four species 鈥� the humpback chub, razorback sucker, Colorado pikeminnow and bonytail fish 鈥� in these basins. When the Upper Colorado and San Juan programs were established in 1988 and 1992, all four species faced extinction, but they have seen some success.
In 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service species from “endangered” to “threatened” on the Endangered Species Act as a result of these programs. The other three species remain listed as endangered, but the razorback sucker has been for downlisting, with the decision still under review.
The recovery programs have included collaboration by state, tribal, local and federal partners through a variety of projects including habitat restoration and maintenance, streamflow augmentation, operating fish hatcheries and stocking, constructing fish passages and screens as well as removing invasive species.
“This multi-state effort works to recover some of Colorado’s most iconic native fish in the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins,” stated Dan Gibbs, the executive director of Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources in a news release. “They also represent an amazing partnership between water users, non-profit organizations, state, federal, and Tribal agencies to ensure Endangered Species Act compliance for a wide variety of water projects.”
