History of the Minnow Litigation and Its Implications for the Future of Reservoir Operations on the Rio Grande

Authors

Lara Katz

Publication Date

2007

Document Type

Article

Abstract

At the intersection of the Endangered Species Act and the Rio Grande lies the silvery minnow. In 1996, this tiny endangered fish found itself at the heart of a drought-sparked battle over the Rio Grande between an array of interests that has resulted in a tangled morass of litigation. The history of the minnow litigation, the legislative response it provoked, and the attempts at collaborative solutions all show a system under stress. The issues brought out in the struggle between the endangered silvery minnow and the various water users along the Rio Grande go to the heart of the relationships between federal and state law; human beings and the environment; and the past, present, and future of water usage and management on the Rio Grande. This article traces the outlines of those issues in a historical examination of the minnow litigation as it relates to the Rio Grande reservoir system.

Publisher

Natural Resources Journal

Recommended Citation

Katz, Lara. "History of the Minnow Litigation and Its Implications for the Future of Reservoir Operations on the Rio Grande." (2007). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/uc_rio_chama/40