As the time came for the Rio Grande silvery minnow to begin spawning this year, officials had concerns that not enough eggs would be produced.
Grace Haggerty, a hydrologist with the Interstate Stream Commission who oversees endangered species work on the Rio Grande, outlined some of the efforts that crews undertook this year to help ensure there are silvery minnows going forward.
Haggerty presented to the Interstate Stream Commission last week.
Because of a lack of breeding stock, she said there was an effort to get more wild fish spawning this spring.
As part of that effort, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District released “a little bit of water extra” in an attempt to trigger wild silvery minnows to spawn. This is done to mimic the natural spring runoffs. However, this didn’t result in as much spawning activity as officials had hoped.
“But we did have these rains in May and, lo and behold, we had a lot of … eggs being collected and brought back to the refuge,” Haggerty said.
She said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service collected breeding stock in response to drying conditions on the Rio Grande in April. Those fish were taken to hatcheries where they successfully spawned.
The silvery minnow typically spawns in May and June.
Haggerty also spoke about a 2024 settlement that was reached in a lawsuit brought by the advocacy group WildEarth Guardians regarding how water is managed on the Rio Grande. This settlement will result in a new biological opinion being drafted. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed in the settlement to complete a draft of the new biological opinion by the end of October 2028. The State of New Mexico was not a part of that lawsuit and did not intervene, however, the settlement could still have some implications for the Interstate Stream Commission and the Office of the State Engineer.
“We just don’t know what the impacts to water users will be,” Haggerty said.
The fiscal year 2026 budget calls for spending $455,000 on the Los Lunas Silvery Minnow Refugium Captive Propagation Program.
The Interstate Stream Commission is evaluating the operations at the refuge and is expected to make a decision in December about whether to continue operations of the Los Lunas Silvery Minnow Refugium.
The budget also calls for $6 million on habitat improvements and river restoration projects, which could also help the endangered fish.
While the silvery minnow was once found throughout the Rio Grande system, it is now limited to a range spanning from the Angostura Diversion Dam to the Elephant Butte Reservoir delta — approximately 7% of its historical range.