FEBRUARY 17, 2006 Lawsuit targets Ariz. dam Says native fi sh near extinction

of the Endangered Species Act and states and the federal agencies and, force the agency to conduct new en- Shaun McKinnon frankly, the political offi cials from the vironmental studies that would lead to The Arizona Republic seven states pretty united on all this,” changes in the dam’s operations. The Wilson said. Because the states are suit specifi cally says the groups are not Five environmental groups on Thurs- working on their own plan to control seeking an injunction to stop or alter day accused the Interior Department fl ows from Glen Canyon Dam, any the fl ow of water from the dam. of failing to protect native fi sh in the competing scheme could complicate Grand Canyon and asked a federal work on the drought plan. court to order changes in how water In denouncing the government’s ef- forts so far, the groups cite a plan re- fl ows into the Colorado River from Wilson said he has heard anecdotal leased last year by the U.S. Geological Glen Canyon Dam. evidence in recent months that some Survey, which found little progress in native fi sh populations are growing species recovery or habitat restoration Their lawsuit, fi led in U.S. District again, in part because of government- after experiments designed to mimic Court in Phoenix , stopped short of sponsored programs to remove non- the river’s pre-dam fl ows. That report demanding that the government de- native fi sh, such as trout, that feed on noted trouble for at least four native commission the dam, a drastic solution baby chubs. some activists say is the only way to species: the humpback chub, the razor- back sucker, the Colorado pikeminnow restore the river’s ecosystem. “This suit is like anything else,” he and the bonytail chub. said. “If you want to discredit things, Instead, the groups want the court to you can fi nd them.” enforce an existing plan that calls for “We waited patiently while they did their studies,” said Robin Silver, board operating the dam in a way that will The complaint asks the court to force chairman for the Center for Biological help the fi sh and other species down- the Interior Department to revise Diversity, one of the groups that signed stream. The government has ignored an environmental impact statement on to the suit. “It shouldn’t be this way. that plan, the lawsuit alleges, and al- written more than a decade ago after The lawsuit should be unnecessary. lowed some fi sh species to slide nearer studies found evidence that the dam But those agencies are not motivated to extinction. was harming the Colorado River eco- to do what’s necessary to make sure we system along the length of the Grand get these species to survive.” The suit could disrupt other attempts to Canyon . control the river’s fl ow from Glen Can- Federal offi cials had not seen the full yon Dam, most notably the ongoing With the dam in place, the water that complaint Thursday, but it is likely to drought talks among the seven states fl owed into the Grand Canyon was trigger a negative response from water that draw water from the Colorado . cooler and clearer, creating condi- managers in the seven Colorado River That plan could clash with some of tions that are not friendly to the native states, said Sid Wilson, general man- the measures prescribed to help the fi sh. The dam also blocked seasonal ager of the Central Arizona Project, native fi sh, whose populations have fl oods and other fl uctuations in the which delivers water from the river to declined in the 40 years since the dam river’s fl ow, which helped maintain Phoenix and Tucson . was built. beaches and other natural habitat in the canyon. The groups want the courts to declare “If the environmental groups continue to push, you’re going to have the seven the Interior Department in violation In 1992, Congress ordered the Interior Department to regulate the dam’s fl ows in a way that would help restore the habitat and protect the native species. Two years later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that the hump- back chub and razorback sucker were in jeopardy of extinction, triggering an adaptive management plan aimed at improving conditions.

One of the plan’s most visible ele- ments was a series of artifi cial fl oods designed to rebuild beaches. The fi rst try in 1996 produced disappointing results, and later attempts were only slightly more successful. Future fl oods could be hampered by agreements among the seven states on how and when water is released.

“Their actions have merely made things worse,” said John Weisheit, conservation director for the group Living Rivers. “One more fi sh species is effectively extinct in the Canyon and another is on the verge.”

Weisheit’s group has helped lead the charge to decommission Glen Canyon Dam and drain Lake Powell , restor- ing the river’s natural fl ow through the Grand Canyon . That proposal has been widely discredited by water providers and federal agencies