Oaxaca Cave Sleeper

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and Louisiana State University have identified a new genus and species of cavefish from Mexico, the Oaxaca cave sleeper (Caecieleotris morrisi).

The species is the first cave-adapted sleeper goby to be found in the Western Hemisphere. The fish, identified from museum specimens, has not been seen alive in more than two decades and lives in a cave system threatened by damming.

The Oaxaca Cave Sleeper occurs in a single cave system beneath Presa Miguel Alemán reservoir, which is formed by a dam on the Tonto River, a tributary of Mexico’s second largest river.

There are only 13 known individuals, all collected at the same time. Thomas L. Morris, a renowned cave diver and cave biologist who works to protect caves and their inhabitants, collected the fish in 1995.

Morris gave the specimens to the Florida Museum of Natural History where Stephen Walsh, now a researcher with the USGS, recognized the distinctiveness of the new species while in the process of conducting taxonomic research and digitizing the museum’s fish collection.

Walsh and colleague Prosanta Chakrabarty of Louisiana State University compared the specimens to other sleepers, and determined that they represent a new genus and species.

The researchers gave the Oaxaca Cave Sleeper the scientific name Caecieleotris morrisi to honor Morris for his discovery and his dedication to conservation.

Discovery of the new species afforded an opportunity for the USGS to partner with the natural history museum community in designating a scientific name for this unique cavefish.

The paper, A new genus and species of blind sleeper (Teleostei: Eleotridae) from Oaxaca, Mexico: first obligate cave gobiiform in the western hemisphere, was recently published in the journal Copeia, a widely-cited journal that publishes original research on fishes, amphibians and reptiles.

source: U.S. Geological Survey

Middle Columbia River Steelhead Restoration

Middle Columbia River steelhead is listed as a species threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).

In 2013, NOAA Fisheries designated a population of Middle Columbia River steelhead as “experimental.” The designation will support the reintroduction of steelhead to historical spawning and rearing habitat in the upper Deschutes, helping to re-establish the population.

As part of ongoing efforts to restore steelhead trout in the watershed, Stearns Dam on the Crooked River has been removed. The dam removal will allow steelheads to access 12 additional miles of quality habitat that was previously inaccessible.

The dam’s removal is the result of collaboration among the Crooked River Watershed Council, NOAA’s Restoration Center, American Rivers, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the local landowner.

source: NOAA Fisheries

NOAA Columbia-Snake River Salmon BiOp Fails

On August 2, 2011, U.S. District Court Judge James Redden ruled that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service failed for the third time in ten years to produce a legal and scientifically adequate plan to protect imperiled Columbia-Snake River salmon from extinction.

Fishing and conservation groups, the state of Oregon, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Spokane Tribe opposed the federal biological opinion, or BiOp, in court.

This is the third time Judge Redden has found a BiOp for the Columbia-Snake Basin inadequate and illegal. Today, salmon populations are critically low, lingering near just 1 percent of their historic levels.

In finding the current plan’s heavy reliance on unidentified and uncertain habitat actions illegal, the court wrote: “Coupled with the significant uncertainty surrounding the reliability of NOAA Fisheries' habitat methodologies, the evidence that habitat actions are falling behind schedule, and that benefits are not accruing as promised, NOAA Fisheries' approach to these issues is neither cautious nor rational.”

Endangered Snake River salmon and steelhead tackle a migration like no other salmon on earth. Some swim more than 900 miles and climb almost 7,000 feet to reach their spawning grounds, scaling eight dams along the way.

source: wildsalmon.org

Oil Spill in Yellowstone River

On July 1, 2011, crude oil spilled into the Yellowstone River. According to Montana officials, the spill released over 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the river.

These are a few details concerning the spill:

- The spill occurred when a pipeline feeding the ExxonMobil refinery in Lockwood broke.

- On July 2, Governor Brian Schweitzer, Disaster and Emergency Services (DES) and other state agencies were notified by Yellowstone County DES that crude oil was released into the Yellowstone River from an ExxonMobil Company pipeline.

- Evacuations took place in the immediate area of the spill due to the odor from the oil.

- Unified Command for the incident includes the EPA, State of Montana and Exxon Mobile.

- Other agencies involved include: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, North Dakota Disaster and Emergency Management, National Response Center, PPL Montana.

- Following the spill, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks issued a consumption advisory for fish caught in the Yellowstone River in the area of the oil spill.

- For more information, visit: visit www.yellowstoneriveroilspill.mt.gov

Urban Waters Federal Partnership Pilot Programs

The United States Department of the Interior recently announced the creation of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP), a federal union of 11 agencies.

Agencies of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership include the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior, United States Department of Agriculture, Corporation for National and Community Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Commerce/Economic Development Administration, Department of Commerce/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Efforts of the partnership will focus on stimulating regional and local economies, creating local jobs, improving quality of life, and other goals in communities across the country.

UWFP will focus its initial efforts on seven pilot locations including the Patapsco Watershed (Maryland), Anacostia Watershed (Washington DC/Maryland), Bronx & Harlem River Watersheds (New York), South Platte River in Denver (Colorado), Los Angeles River Watershed (California), Lake Pontchartrain Area (New Orleans, La.) and the Northwest Indiana Area

For more information, visit: http://www.urbanwaters.gov

source: Department of the Interior press release

Colorado River Basin Water Use Study

An April 2011 report from the National Parks Conservation Association analyzes the impacts of water management in the Colorado River Basin and five national parks that lie along the Colorado River and its tributaries.

According to the report, water management has altered the natural state of the river, including the long-term presence of major dams and non-native species, and changes in water flow in the system.

National parks examined in the study include Grand Canyon National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Canyonlands National Park, Dinosaur National Monument, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

The report cites several factors which affect the rivers in these parks:

• Dams along the Colorado River have fundamentally changed ecological and environmental processes in these parks by  destroying natural habitats in some areas, creating highly unnatural flow regimes, trapping sediments that are critical for building and maintaining aquatic and riparian habitats and altering natural water temperatures that foster native fish communities.
• Reintroducing more natural water flows in the rivers can protect park resources. In addition, any further alterations to the natural flow of the river must not compromise these treasured parks, which receive a total of more than 8.5 visitors annually. . Recent proposals to divert water from the River for municipal and agricultural uses would likely be detrimental to the parks. 
• Climate change scenarios predict the western United States will become drier and warmer, which increases the likelihood that the volume of water in the river annually will decrease and releases from reservoirs like Lake Powell will be reduced.
• Non-native fish have been introduced; causing issues for native species through predatory and competitive behavior and the non-native tamarisk has altered the river channel, further restricting river flows.

The report outlines steps that can be taken to reverse or mitigate some of the challenges facing the river, including:

• Changes to dam operations to reduce impacts on endangered species and other resources, which would have relatively minor effects on hydropower revenues.
• Climate change research to clearly understand and ensure that its effects on the River are taken into account for all future policies and decisions impacting water flow in the river.
• Additional research on costs and benefits of restoring more natural flows so that the value of the parks along the River can be properly assessed.

To view a full copy of the report, please visit: http://www.npca.org/cpr/colorado_river_basin/

source: National Parks Conservation Association