Federal water managers will lower the level of Lake Mohave on the Arizona-Nevada border in order to help with the harvesting of an endangered fish.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s annual drawdown is timed to coincide with conservation efforts for the razorback sucker, which only now exists in the Colorado River upstream from the Grand Canyon and four of the area’s reservoirs.
Officials will lower the lake’s water in the coming month as biologists gather newly hatched razorback sucker larvae for transport to federal hatcheries in the Southwest.
Eventually, the fish will be tagged with microchips and placed back in Lake Mohave with hopes of bolstering the species’ numbers.
Officials say boaters should use caution because of the lower levels, especially downstream from Hoover Dam.