US Fish and Wildlife Finds 2 Razorback Suckers as Colorado River Flows Sink to 55 CFS
Updated
Updated · National Geographic · Jun 24
US Fish and Wildlife Finds 2 Razorback Suckers as Colorado River Flows Sink to 55 CFS
2 articles · Updated · National Geographic · Jun 24
Summary
Two razorback suckers were found in a June electrofishing survey of Colorado’s 15-Mile Reach, where biologists caught fewer native fish than expected and warned parts of the river could dry up later this summer.
Flows in that stretch briefly fell to about 55 cubic feet per second after winter snowpack reached only half of normal and a March heatwave wiped out 60% of snowpack four weeks early.
The low water is squeezing both habitat and farms in the Grand Valley, where irrigators may see canals run dry for the first time in 112 years and orchardists fear trees could die if water is cut off.
Managers are already improvising emergency measures, including routing canal water into wetlands and hand-stocking 5,000 larval bonytail, as invasive bass gain an edge in warmer, shallower water.
The 2026 crisis is testing a decades-old pact between water users and fish recovery managers and may surpass 2002 as the basin’s worst year, underscoring a broader climate-driven aridification of the Colorado River.
As the Colorado River vanishes, must we choose between saving ancient fish and sustaining the region's farms?
With a century-old water pact broken by climate change, who decides who gets the Colorado River's last drops?
2026 Drought Emergency: Can the Razorback Sucker Survive the Colorado River’s Worst Year in 1,200 Years?
Overview
In the summer of 2026, the Colorado River Basin is facing its worst drought in 1,200 years, with river flows projected to be 25% below average due to reduced snowpack in the Rocky Mountains. This has led to critically low water levels in major reservoirs like Lake Powell and Lake Mead, creating an extreme threat for native fish such as the endangered razorback sucker. With fewer than 1,000 wild adults remaining in the Upper Basin, the razorback sucker’s survival and reproduction are at serious risk, highlighting the urgent need for emergency conservation measures amid intensifying environmental challenges.