Status, conservation and management of the desert pupfish, Cyprinodon macularius, in California

Authors: Keeney, Sharon

Year: 2017 (xlix)

Abstract

The desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), is an endangered species that historically was abundant in portions of southern Arizona, southeastern California, northern Baja California and Sonora, Mexico In the Salton Sink area of California, extant natural populations of desert pupfish occur in San Felipe Creek, Salt Creek, an unnamed wash (often referred to as Hot Mineral Spa) south of Bombay Beach, some irrigation drains, the Salton Sea and its associated shoreline pools and ponds California Department of Fish and Wildlife has been working with cooperating entities, including conservation partners associated with the Coachella Valley Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan, to implement tasks identified in the Desert Pupfish Recovery Plan San Felipe Creek, which is the only designated critical habitat for desert pupfish, and Salt Creek have had abundant pupfish populations, but recently we observed significantly reduced flows in these creeks In 2017, most of San Felipe Creek, which is the only designated critical habitat for desert pupfish, dried completely by early summer We salvaged several hundred pupfish and translocated them to other habitats in late May and early June Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and US Fish and Wildlife Service are investigating the causes of the acute and sudden reduction in flow On the eastern side of the Salton Sea, recent changes to the hydrology have affected Salt Creek and the rest the entire Dos Palmas Conservation Area Possible causes and contributing factors of the acute reduction in flows include the lining of the Coachella Canal, invasive vegetation and climate change The reduced flows have also resulted in the deterioration of water quality in some habitats This necessitated the capture of most pupfish and the translocation to upstream ponds at Dos Palmas in 2016 and 2017 In Hot Mineral Spa Wash, the pupfish population is stable and abundant, with water quantity and quality generally consistent and adequate In the irrigation drains, non-native species typically dominate the fish communities, but occasionally desert pupfish are abundant in these habitats However, some of the shoreline pools that once provided excellent pupfish habitat are now desiccated Pupfish still occur in the Salton Sea, but the habitat will deteriorate significantly in 2018 when Imperial Irrigation District must stop providing water to the lake as part of the Quantification Settlement Agreement Desert pupfish refuges include ponds at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (2), Borrego Springs High School (1), Oasis Springs Ecological Reserve (1), Dos Palmas Preserve (4), University of California Riverside, Palm Desert (1), Imperial Irrigation District (1), and The Living Desert (3) Some refuge populations are stable to increasing, but others are extirpated or decreasing due to one or more causes, including failure of water delivery system, vandalism, raccoon and/or bird predation, invasive species, and excessive shading Restoration efforts are still in progress at one former refuge, Simone Pond We received a grant to fund the construction of a new well for the second pond at Oasis Springs Ecological Reserve, with plans of restocking pupfish in late 2018 New refuges or other habitats currently being planned for desert pupfish include 5-6 ponds totaling 25 acres at the north end of the Salton Sea, at least two additional ponds at Dos Palmas Preserve, a small pond at Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center, and two 320-acre pond at the south end of the Salton Sea as part of the State of California’s Salton Sea Species Conservation Habitat Project However, since the primary objective of the project is to provide forage fish for piscivorous birds, the ponds will not be pupfish refuges Additionally, we have been working with Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control to eventually stock desert pupfish for mosquito control in private ponds, especially larger habitats near the Salton Sea