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Memorandum of Understanding between The City of Albuquerque, Aquatic Conservation Facility, and the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority
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For the last 19 years the Water Authority has worked in partnership with the City of Albuquerque (City) to provide funding to the City Aquatic Conservation Facility (ACF) to rear and stock the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow (RGSM) to the Rio Grande.
The Rio Grande Silvery Minnow (RGSM) became listed as an endangered species in 1993 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The RGSM has been impacted by changes in flows, lack of historic flooding along the river’s edge, impacts from non-native fish species, and by water quality degradation. Since the species listing in 1993, several designated facilities that rear and stock the RGSM have been developed. One of these designated facilities is the Aquatic Conservation Facility (ACF), located at the City of Albuquerque BioPark Zoo.
This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will continue the partnership with the City for the ACF to continue to produce anywhere between ten thousand (10,000) to fifty thousand (50,000) RGSM annually, and for the City to stock the reared RGSM in all reaches of the Middle Rio Grande in coordination with the USFWS. Additionally, the MOU includes maintenance of the facility, the acquisition of all necessary permits from the USFWS for operations, reporting requirements to the Water Authority, and for the continued participation of the ACF in the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Collaborative Program.
This MOU is effective upon the date of the signing of the last party hereto and shall continue until the fulfillment of ten (10) years of rearing.
FISCAL IMPACT:
$165,000 per year and budgeted in the Water Resources Budget annually.