Agreement May Help Protect Silvery Minnow

Defenders of Wildlife president Rodger Schlickeisen called the interim settlement agreement signed today in the lawsuit to protect the Rio Grande silvery minnow, "An historic agreement that protects not only the river and the silvery minnow, but the farming community that also depends on the river. This is a true win-win solution."

Today’s agreement was reached after Defenders of Wildlife and several other conservation groups filed suit in federal court seeking to protect the silvery minnow, a fish listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act since 1994.

While a recent drought this summer threatened the survival of the minnow, the plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary injunction to stave off possible extinction of the fish in the wild. Federal District Court Judge James Parker ordered the parties into mediation, which resulted in an agreement to provide water for the river and the silvery minnow for the remainder of the year. The court is expected to next order the parties back into mediation to find a long-term solution.

"The force of law was clearly necessary to keep the river wet and to avoid extinction of the minnow" said Bill Snape, vice president for law for Defenders of Wildlife. "While we’ve known all along that solutions were possible, it took our lawsuit to force the parties to find the right ones."

Today’s agreement provides for the release of 85,000 acre feet of water, including 36,000 acre feet for irrigation. This will afford the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District the ability to continue irrigating, while keeping a minimum flow of water in the river.

Last week, while the mediation was underway, the river was allowed to dry, causing thousands of silvery minnows to perish.

Previously, Senator Pete Domenici attached a rider to the FY 2001 Energy and Water spending bill to prevent the use of federal funds to protect the river and the fish. By late last week, threats from the farming community forced the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to abandon efforts to rescue the dying fish for two days.

"It is unfortunate that the agreement was not reached in time to save the thousands of fish that perished last week when the river was allowed to dry," said Snape. "No one wins when we lose a river or the species that depend on it."

Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 400,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues.

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