SRP stocks Phoenix canal with 2,500 white Amur fish to clear weeds

Slippery and scaly, the fish somersaulted out of a metal chute attached to Leistikow’s tanker truck and into the Grand Canal where they’ll spend the rest of their lives. These 2,500 white Amur fish are what Salt River Project calls their “smallest employees.” Shipped cross-country from a farm in Arkansas they’ve come to do important work.

Since 1989, the water provider has recruited fishy friends to feast on the aquatic plants that would otherwise choke the canals. The fish keep the 131-mile maze of waterways clear for the millions of residents who depend on it for water. The fresh delivery Feb. 13 begins the utility’s annual restock and more will continue throughout February.

Every year, SRP replenishes the population of around 44,000 white Amur who swim in the canals’ murky waters. They aren’t native to Arizona, Arkansas or anywhere else in the United States, but since the 1970s they’ve been used for this very purpose. Their ancestral roots are in the Amur River between China and Russia, but they’ve adapted to waters all over the world and are renowned for their work ethic.

The fish don’t mind working weekends, late hours or for free, according to Brian Moorhead, an environmental scientist with SRP, as long as there’s plenty to eat. They can devour up to three quarters of their body weight daily, grinding plants up in their comb-like teeth

Sago pondweed, masses of algae tumbleweeding along the current and 15-foot-long aquatic grasses can plug up water intake structures. But SRP’s fish help mitigate that, ensuring that water keeps moving.

”The canals are basically the lifeblood of the cities,” Moorhead said. Around 2.5 million people rely on the water in them.

Before 1989, SRP dragged heavy chains across the bottoms of the canals to tear up vegetation. Loose plants were corralled and pulled out. But it was an imperfect solution that sometimes damaged the fragile concrete lining of the canals.

“It was very labor intensive, very expensive,” he said. “Not a fun job.” The fish prove to be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to dredging and herbicides, which can also be used to clear waterways.

This maintenance strategy is a more hands-off approach for SRP. Once the white Amur are in the water, they do what they do best and require little interference. They school together, seek out the parts of the canal they like, create a home for themselves and eat, unaware of the cities they are supporting on their scaly backs.

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SRP stocks Phoenix canal with 2,500 white Amur fish to clear weeds

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