Water abstraction for irrigation or livestock watering causes a decrease in flow rates, reducing available habitat.
The reduction in flow rates causes an increase in the concentration of pollutants, and changes habitat characteristics (current velocity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, dissolved nutrient concentration) adequate for the species.
In addition, water abstraction from the deepest part of watercourses during dry periods is particularly serious since it is in these places that fish find refuge until the water levels rise again, allowing the recolonization of the entire watercourses and the completion of their life cycles.
