BYLAS — Two fish passage projects in Arizona will receive a total of $2.5 million in fiscal year 2022 funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The National Fish Passage Program, facilitated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, supports aquatic ecosystem restoration projects and restores free-flowing waters, allowing for enhanced fish migration and protecting communities from flooding.
In Graham County, $240,000 of federal funding will go toward the recovery of the endangered Gila topminnow habitat at the Bylas Springs Complex.
This project will open 0.4 miles of spring/stream habitat and restore 0.4 miles of shoreline and riparian habitat. This represents a 40 percent increase in available habitat at these sites.
The project will be executed in a way that will protect this historic population from invasion by nonnative fish. The population count will increase as a result of this habitat re-opening project. The need for habitat restoration is identified in the Gila Topminnow Recovery Plan.
In Navajo and Apache counties, $2.31 million of federal dollars and $1.26 million from partners will go toward threatened Apache Trout recovery.
For more information about the National Fish Passage Program and the BIL-funded projects, visit the Service’s Fish Passage Program website.
