Comal Springs Riffle Beetle (Heterelmis comalensis)
Comal Springs Dryopid Beetle  (Stygoparnus comalensis)
Peck's Cave Amphipod (Stygobromus pecki)

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Aquifer plan endangers species, fun, some say
Groups say court battle over pumping limits is a possibility.
By Asher Price

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Comal Springs is crucial to the habitat of two distinct species, the
beer-toting, river-tubing college student and the surface-dwelling
riffle beetle, an endangered insect that is "about as long as an
uncooked spaghetti noodle is wide," according to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.

Environmental groups say water rules making their way through the
Legislature this week could threaten the flow of the springs, and, in
turn, the happiness of both species. They are hinting at going to
court over the issue, where they were successful during water battles
in the early 1990s.

The rules, which were approved in the House on Wednesday, would raise
caps on the amount of water that cities and farmers could pump out of
the Edwards Aquifer. The enormous underground reservoir delivers water
to about 1.7 million people, as well as to the San Marcos Springs and
Comal Springs, which serve as the habitat for seven endangered aquatic
species, including the riffle beetle and the Texas blind salamander.

The species face threats from lack of water, bad water quality and
habitat fragmentation, said Joy Nicholopoulos, state administrator for
ecological services at the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Declining water levels could jeopardize the endangered species'
habitat, she said. (Not to mention recreation and tourism business in
the San Marcos and New Braunfels areas, Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping
Springs, said on the House floor Tuesday.)

"Not only do you have habitat shrinking, you have habitat quality
declining," Nicholopoulos said.

Environmental groups say raising the caps could lead to a drop in
aquifer levels and, eventually, a decline in the flow of the springs.
The Legislature created the caps in the early 1990s after the Sierra
Club persuaded a federal judge that the endangered species needed
further protection. As the water rules gained traction this week,
environmentalists said they might return to court to boost species
protections.

"We're going to examine all the options, and going back to court is
one of the options," said Ken Kramer, head of the Lone Star chapter of
the Sierra Club. "If we think that's the best way of proceeding or
only way to proceed, we'll do that."

The pumping rules are wrapped into a much larger water bill that
includes measures favored by environmental groups, including one that
orders the state to figure out how much water rivers need to satisfy
fish and wildlife. (That measure also has consequences for people
ranging from real estate agents selling riverfront property to
Matagorda Bay oystermen.)

The upshot is that environmental groups essentially sat on their hands
the past couple of days as the water bill made its way through the
Capitol.

With amendments to guarantee spring flows struck down by lawmakers,
severe droughts and development may lead to endangered species' being
relegated to aquariums, said Andrew Sansom, head of the River Systems
Institute at Texas State University.

"There's no way to read that bill as not at least raising the threat
level for endangered species," Sansom said.

However, the water measure also directs state agencies, businesses,
landowners and environmentalists to participate in a federal program
designed to figure out ways to restore endangered species and to
establish how much water is in the aquifer and how much species need.

One of the ways they can participate is on the steering committee.

Kramer said the Legislature was trying to stack the committee against
environmental interests.

"It's the first state Legislature that had anything to do with the
makeup of the steering committee," for a recovery program,
acknowledged Nicholopoulos, adding that it was premature to say the
Legislature was "on some kind of end run."

"We have a mechanism to add folks, for anyone who wants to participate."

asherpr...@statesman.com; 445-3643

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