Craig Roepke, the Interstate Stream Commission deputy director, just passed along a list of the studies that would have been completed on the Gila this year, if Gov. Bill Richardson hadn’t axed the funding yesterday:

1. Extinction Risk Analysis for Spikedace and Loachminnow ($30,000)
2. Land-Use and Land Management of the Gila and San Francisco Rivers ($50,000)
3. Characterizing Hydrogeomorphic Conditions and Developing Stage-Discharge-Habitat Relationships for Key Ecological Attributes ($535,000)
4. River Channel Flows, Geomorphology and Habitat ($100,000)
5. Impacts of Nonnative Fishes on Native Fish Assemblages in Gila River Drainage ($40,000)
6. Riparian Vegetation Analysis ($75,000)
7. Bird Surveys on the Gila and San Francisco rivers ($25,000)
8. Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Analysis of the Upper Gila River and San Francisco River ($50,000)
9. Flow Regime Analysis ($10,000)
10. Historic Hydrologic Data ($10,000)
11. Historic Geomorphic Surveys ($10,000)
12. Historic Species Surveys ($10,000)

TOTAL: $945,000

Jon Goldstein, Richardson’s deputy communications director, said he could not confirm Mayor James Marshall’s comments regarding Silver City’s cut of Capital Outlay Funding. He did convey give this statement on the Governor’s reason for vetoing the money:

The appropriation language was problematic and didn’t include the proper balance. The different parties have not reached consensus yet on this issue, and, until that happens, it’s going to be hard to move forward. The governor remains committed to helping the parties reach consensus in the months ahead.

More in today’s Silver City Daily Press.