(Joshua Duplechian/Trout Unlimited)
Upper Rio Grande
Overview
In the over two decades of working in the Rio Grande basin in New Mexico and Colorado, Trout Unlimited has engaged numerous partners in protecting, restoring, reconnecting, and sustaining the watershed’s most critical landscapes and coldwater ecosystems. Along with other significant milestones, TU played an important role in the designation of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and the restoration of Rio Grande cutthroat trout in the Sand Creek and Rio Costilla watersheds. We are reinforcing stewardship practices that have served the Rio Grande’s tribal and rural communities for untold generations.
Questa/Red River
“Community is so important in realizing not only the value of what you have but in protecting it.”—Talisa Fuentes, Taos Pueblo Wildlife Biologist. (Joshua Duplechian/Trout Unlimited)
Trout Unlimited is working with the local community and like-minded organizations to restore the Red River in the Village of Questa, New Mexico. Over the past decade, almost $1 million in state, local, and TU funding has been secured to better the river, recover populations of Rio Grande cutthroat, and enhance the town’s outdoor recreation economy.
Rio San Antonio
Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout in northern New Mexico. (Joshua Duplechian/Trout Unlimited)
Harboring three native fish species — Rio Grande cutthroat trout, Rio Grande chub, and Rio Grande sucker — the Rio San Antonio is a priority for Trout Unlimited and our local partners. A hearty river, it has survived multiple historic floods and a legacy of aggressive timber harvesting and mining dating back to the 1800s. Add rising temperatures and prolonged drought to the mix, and water temperatures in the Rio San Antonio now frequently exceed 80 degrees in the summer. And yet, native fish in the Rio San Antonio are hanging on. In 2021, TU identified a previously undocumented population of Rio Grande cutthroat in the river. With local TU chapters, grazers, New Mexico Game and Fish, and the U.S. Forest Service, we are launching a major new restoration effort along seven miles of this watershed.
Winter Flow Program
Upper Colorado River near Kremmling, CO. (Joshua Duplechian/Trout Unlimited)
TU is working hand in hand with Colorado farmers to restore stream flows below five reservoirs that support agriculture. Our voluntary Winter Flow Program relies on mutually beneficial water conservation strategies that restore stream flows while simultaneously providing agricultural benefits. We are making the most of a limited resource and helping trout trying to survive the winter.
Jim Creek
Trout Unlimited has restored and enhanced 2.5 miles of stream habitat, planted hundreds of willows and thousands of sedges, and protected it with five miles of riparian fencing. We’ve replaced two culverts blocking fish passage and initiated a volunteer-led brook trout removal program to protect a conservation population of Rio Grande cutthroat. These successes have not only given the creek’s native trout a new lease on life, but they’ve been critical to deepening of partnerships required for future Jim Creek projects.
