The nation has identified a man made velocity and grade barrier on amargo creek in the SAN juan river watershed which negatively impacts three native fish species

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service awarded a $1,100,000 Project Grant under the National Fish Passage Program (CFDA 15.685) to the Jicarilla Apache Nation to remove a man-made velocity and grade barrier on Amargo Creek in the San Juan River watershed. This project aims to restore volitionary fish movement and provide access to 50% more high-quality on-reservation stream miles for three native fish species - roundtail chub, bluehead sucker, and flannelmouth sucker. By removing the barrier and repatriating the creek to its original channel, the project will reconnect 5 acres of dried floodplain and riparian habitat, restore hydrologic functions, and create 8 miles of refugia habitat to help the species cope with climate change and other environmental stressors. This effort supports key conservation actions to secure, enhance, and restore populations of the three native fish species. The project period of performance is June 2, 2025 to June 3, 2030.

The project intends to remove the barrier and allow volitionary fish movement at critical times in the three fish species life histories.amargo creek is the largest tributary to the navajo river and the confluence of these two bodies of water is where the grade and velocity barrier currently exists. By opening volitionary movement at the project site the three species will have access to 50% more on-reservation stream miles ( 8 miles) which are comprised of high-quality habitats for all life stages individually but especially for spawning and juvenile recruitment. At the project site five acres of dried floodplain and riparian habitat will be reconnected when the creek is repatriated to its original channel. This repatriation and reconnection of the floodplain will restore hydrologic functions such as sediment transport, reduce erosional forces, and increase riparian vegetation health and bank stability in the project site.by removing the current barrier and repatriating the creek to its native channel the three species will not only gain eight miles of prime habitats, but those habitats will be separate from the navajo river both, hydrologically and thermally. This project will provide eight miles of refugia habitat to species coping with increased water consumption, climate change, and wildfire risk in the main stem navajo river. The ecological resilience this refugia habitat provides to climate change, stochastic events such as flooding, and regional drought cannot be understated. This project will help meet conservation actions 2 (secure and enhance populations), 3 (restore populations), 4 (secure and improve watershed conditions), and 7 (facilitate and improve coordination) of the conservation strategy for the three species. Specifically, IT will help accomplish conservation actions 5) increase roundtail chub, bluehead sucker, and flannelmouth sucker populations to accelerate progress toward attaining population objectives for respective species and 6) enhance and maintain habitat for roundtail chub, bluehead sucker, and flannelmouth sucker.by removing the described barrier and remediating the sites the overarching project objective of restoring volitionary fish passage will be achieved.