$100,000 Allocated for Threatened Fish

An Orange County water board has voted to spend $100,000 for a plan to restore the Santa Ana sucker, a small fish inhabiting the Santa Ana River that this month was listed as threatened by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Orange County Water District agreed to spend $20,000 a year for the next five years, and agreed to oversee fund-raising efforts for a $125,000-a-year study to come up with a plan to restore the fish to local waterways. A measure of self-interest is involved in the board’s decision.

“If we can bring the species back, we can avoid future restrictions” on water reclamation in the Santa Ana River, water district spokesman Ron Wildermuth said.

Deemed common only 30 years ago, the 4- to 5-inch bottom feeder with silver and dark blotched coloring historically inhabited small streams throughout the Southland. In recent decades, however, it has disappeared from 75% of its natural habitat, in large part due to the cementing of washes and riverbeds. Today, it can be found only in the headwaters of the San Gabriel River and in sections of Big Tujunga Creek and the Santa Ana River.

A 1998 study concluded that the quality of river water is not a factor in the sucker’s decline.

The new study, Wildermuth said, will look at the fish’s reproduction and migration patterns, population size and potential introduction sites.

Various other water districts, federal agencies and developers with projects affecting the flow of the Santa Ana River will be approached to help fund the new study, Wildermuth said.