Study Targets Demise of Once-Plentiful Fish

The Orange County Water District will lead a multiagency study to determine why populations of a native fish, the Santa Ana sucker, are declining.

Once plentiful in the region, the fish are now found only in the Santa Ana River from Riverside to Anaheim, the upper reaches of the San Gabriel and Los Angeles rivers and as a hybrid in the Santa Clara River.

Dwindling numbers make the Santa Ana sucker a possible candidate for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered or threatened species list, according to the water district. The service now classifies the fish as “a species of particular concern.”

Agencies participating in the $105,000 study include U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Orange County Sanitation District and the Los Angeles County Public Works Department.