The Biden administration has allocated $325,000 in federal funding to replace a culvert in Apache County that prevents a threatened fish species from moving freely within its habitat.
Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say the project on Crooked Creek southeast of Pinetop-Lakeside in the White Mountains will provide stable habitat for the Apache trout as climate change impacts freshwater streams.
The effort supports the White Mountain Apache Tribe Native Fisheries Management Plan that aims to maintain native fish populations.
It’s part of the Biden administration’s 22-state initiative to address outdated and obsolete dams, culverts, levees and other barriers that fragment rivers and streams.