[ADEQ Media] ADEQ Grants Arizona Game & Fish Department $74, 000 to Protect Little Colorado River and Threatened Species

Thu Jun 18 08:48:17 MST 2009

PHOENIX (June 18, 2009) - More than 1,000 feet of eroding stream banks
along the Little Colorado River in Apache County will be repaired to
help protect two threatened fish species under a $74,145 Water Quality
Improvement Grant awarded by the Arizona Department of Environmental
Quality to the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

The affected area, in the 357-acre Wenima Wildlife Area about 3 miles
northwest of Springerville, has been owned by Game and Fish since 1993.
It is home to two threatened fish species, the Little Colorado spinedace
and the Little Colorado sucker.

Under the ADEQ grant, volunteers and Game and Fish employees will remove
soil from eroding banks, landscape the banks, and place vegetation
arranged as barriers, all of which will reduce the amount of sediment
entering the river. 

"ADEQ is pleased to fund this project, which will help to protect
Arizona's precious water resources," said ADEQ Acting Director Patrick
J. Cunningham. "ADEQ is always pleased to partner with Arizona Game and
Fish, and we appreciate that they and citizen volunteers are
rehabilitating this very special wildlife corridor."  

The previous owners had farmed and grazed cattle along the banks of the
river, and tried to straighten its course, which reduced vegetation and
increased erosion. A 2002 study by ADEQ and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency listed this part of the river as impaired.

The grant also will fund a public information campaign to alert
residents to the importance of the habitat and the restoration work.
Game and Fish is contributing $35,250 in matching funds plus $14,792 in
volunteer labor and donated services. 

ADEQ's Water Quality Improvement Grant program is funded by the EPA
under the Clean Water Act. 

-30-

"News media interested in additional information on this or any other
topic concerning the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality should
contact the Office of Communications at (602) 771-2215 or via email at
ms15@azdeq.gov."

To receive press releases by email: http://www.azdeq.gov/subscribe.html

Follow ADEQ on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ArizonaDEQ

**********************************************************************
NOTICE: This e-mail (and any attachments) may contain PRIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL information and is intended only for the use of the specific individual(s) to whom it is addressed. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential under state and federal law. This information may be used or disclosed only in accordance with law, and you may be subject to penalties under law for improper use or further disclosure of the information in this e-mail and its attachments. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify the person named above by reply e-mail, and then delete the original e-mail. Thank you.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.azdeq.gov/pipermail/media/attachments/20090618/b0b6572d/attachment.html>