Rare Nevada fish in dwindling spring could get Endangered Species Act tag
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday proposed protecting a rare fish found near the Nevada-California border, where groundwater levels have dropped as alfalfa farming thrives.
'The Fish Lake Valley tui chub is barely clinging to existence,' according to Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. A petition and litigation by the conservation group could help save the fish after years of declining groundwater has reduced its habitat to a single spring on a private ranch in Esmeralda County. The fish has been introduced into another pond elsewhere as part of efforts to save the species.
Donnelly hailed it as 'the first species proposed for Endangered Act protections by Trump.' He clarifies, the first in Trump's second term.
Pumping for agriculture in Fish Lake Valley vastly exceeds the natural recharge to the aquifer, resulting in plummeting groundwater levels across the valley, according to a Center for Biological Diversity news release.
According to the group, tui chubs used to live in a half dozen springs, all but one of which dried up due to the aquifer collapse. Flow at the one remaining spring has been documented to have declined by more than 50%.
'Nevada has already lost so many native fish species. We can't afford any more extinction,' Donnelly said.
The group cites a looming threat to further drops in groundwater as Ioneer prepares to begin lithium mining operations in 2028 in the hills near the private ranch where the lone spring remains. Donnelly calls Rhyolite Ridge 'the extinction mine' because of threats to the tui chub and a wildflower known as Tiehm's buckwheat, which is already listed as endangered.
'Looming mining and energy projects threaten to worsen the problems in the aquifer,' according to the group's news release. 'The Fish and Wildlife Service specifically cited threats from the proposed Rhyolite Ridge lithium mine as a reason for protecting the tui chub. The Center has sued to stop the mine from moving forward because it poses severe threats to biodiversity and cultural resources.'
That lawsuit targets the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which approved the lithium mine in October.
Officials from Ioneer have said they are confident their project poses no additional threat to the Fish Lake Valley tui chub. They have taken the step of buying water rights in the valley, with plans to ramp down agriculture as they need to use water for the mine.
'Ahead of construction and development following anticipated approval of the federal permitting process in October 2024, Ioneer secured water rights from local agricultural users for construction and operations,' according to a company statement to 8 News Now last week. 'In December 2023, Ioneer received permits from the Nevada Division of Water Resources (NDWR) to transfer existing water rights for use at our site during the construction phase.'
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