NM: Tough times on the Pecos as miles of river go dry

Close to three dozen miles of the Pecos River have dried up, shorelines at state parks up and down the waterway are expanding, and threatened fish have to be relocated. State and federal officials on Tuesday pointed to what's happening on the Pecos River as another example of fallout from two years of drought. One of New Mexico's longest rivers, the Pecos stretches from mountain wilderness northeast of Santa Fe down through the plains and into West Texas. Parts of the river went dry in 2011, but officials say this summer is worse due to compounding conditions. So far, around 35 miles have dried up, double last year's amount, and reservoirs along the river have been reduced to just a few thousand acre-feet of water. A team of biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation will be collecting threatened Pecos bluntnose shiner from the river this week so they can be moved to a wetter area upstream. In previous years, the fish were collected in the spring and held at a hatchery through the dry months. That couldn't happen this year because the hatchery was full of fish pulled from areas around the Southwest that were ravaged by wildfire. State Parks Director Tommy Mutz said some of the lakes along the Pecos River have been forced to close their boat ramps due to low levels and an emergency salvage order was issued allowing anglers to catch more fish at Santa Rosa Lake to avoid spoilage as the level drops...more