WestWater Engineering was awarded an applied research grant from Colorado Mesa University Unconventional Energy Center’s Applied Research Committee for an applied research grant that is being used for data collection and formal document preparation associated with the Colorado hookless cactus.

Surveys were completed in order to identify and collect genetic samples, as authorized under WestWater’s permit with USFWS, from cactus locations in Mesa County in the vicinity of Bangs Canyon, Winter Flats area west of DeBeque, CO, Sunnyside area south of DeBeque, CO, No Thoroughfare Canyon near Grand Junction, CO, Asbury Canyon west of DeBeque, CO, and Sulphur Gulch west of DeBeque, CO.

Areas where cactus surveys were completed were often remote and rugged terrain and required biologists to navigate using GPS equipment and maps. Data collected includes species abundance and distribution data as well as genetic data.