The endangered pahrump poolfish empetrichthys latos was extirpated from its native habitat at manse spring in pahrump, nevada in the mid 1970S and has been reliant on refugia sites for survival…

The endangered pahrump poolfish empetrichthys latos was extirpated from its native habitat at manse spring in pahrump, nevada in the mid 1970S and has been reliant on refugia sites for survival since establishing additional refugia for pahrump poolfish will assist in achieving recovery criteria for reclassification of pahrump poolfish, which involves maintaining three populations with a minimum of 500 adults for three years for downlisting delisting can be considered after an additional three year evaluation period the proposed project will include the creation of a refugium for the pahrump poolfish on private lands in beatty, nevada the proposed site is a good location for poolfish introduction due to IT being a secure location on private property with limited public access the site would also be artificially created outside of the amargosa river and away from habitats occupied by native aquatic species the site is currently a developed spring barnes spring that possesses suitable water temperature 78 f for pahrump poolfish and has no non native aquatic species though the pahrump poolfish has exhibited a wide range of temperature tolerances in refugia, they evolved in a single spring that was a relatively constant 75 f, which would make barnes spring the closest temperature to their historical habitat the service anticipates the project action will involve the excavation of a below ground pond and RE piping the spring flow to bring water to the pond, and flow out of the pond the footprint of the refugium will be approximately 0 1 to 0 2 acres with a water depth of 10 to 12 feet additional design features, may include, lining the pond to prevent vegetation growth, screening to prevent poolfish from leaving the pond, a shallow shelf three to four feet wide for juvenile fish, and fencing the pond to keep livestock and wild burros out of IT the nevada department of wildlife will be a partner in the project