Interior Department Taps Navajo Nation For Help With San Juan River Recovery

<p>Matt York/AP Photo</p>
<p>Navajo Nation Council Delegate Davis Filfred walks along the San Juan River, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015, in Montezuma Creek, Utah.</p>
Photo: Navajo Nation San Juan River - AP
Navajo Nation Council Delegate Davis Filfred walks along the San Juan River, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015, in Montezuma Creek, Utah.

The Navajo Nation has been awarded a $1.1 million contract as part of a multi-agency effort to help recover endangered fish in the San Juan River Basin.

The U.S. Interior Department announced the contract Monday. The funds are being awarded through the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates Navajo Dam and Reservoir on the San Juan River in Colorado and New Mexico.

The focus will be the Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker.

Under the contract, the Navajo Nation's assistance will include operating fish passages and raising the endangered fish in ponds for later release into the river.

Other partners in the San Juan project include the Jicarilla Apache Nation, the Southern Ute Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the states of Colorado and New Mexico.