Endangered Species Act Protection Sought for 42 Great Basin Spring Snail Species

Today the Center for Biological Diversity and the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society filed a scientific petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect 42 spring snail species from Nevada, Utah, and California as endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. “These 42 species of spring snails are severely threatened by groundwater withdrawal proposed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority and other users,” said Tierra Curry, conservation biologist with the Center and lead author of the petition. “Unsustainable groundwater pumping threatens not just these snails but also hundreds of other desert species and water supplies for rural residents and future generations.” Because spring snails are dependent on consistent groundwater flow, reductions in flow will have an immediate impact on their populations. As such, spring snails are an excellent indicator of declining water tables. The spring snails are found primarily in Clark, Lincoln, Nye, and White Pine counties in Nevada and Beaver and Millard counties in Utah. Fourteen of the species occur at only a single location, and 39 occur at 10 or fewer locations. None are currently protected on state, federal, or private lands...Center For Biological Diversity