Fish, snail in Nevada waters may get federal protection

By Mary Manning

Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 | 3:32 p.m.

A fish and a snail living in northeastern Nevada waters may receive federal protection to avoid extinction from water diversions and climate change, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.

The freshwater snail, longitudinal gland pyrg, and the fish, the northern leatherside chub, are two of 29 species in more than 20 states listed for a 90-day review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published Monday.

The federal agency will gather comments from experts, researchers and the public through Oct. 19 before considering whether the species are endangered or threatened enough to list.

The longitudinal gland pyrg lives in the Snake Valley that straddles the Nevada-Utah border in the springs of White Pine County where the Southern Nevada Water Authority wants to build a 300-mile pipeline to tap unallocated groundwater for Las Vegas.

The Fish and Wildlife Service listed reduced spring discharge "that may result from climate change or groundwater withdrawal by the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Snake and Spring Valleys" as arguments in favor of protection for the mollusk.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority has included the snail as part of its environmental impact study and its monitoring program for Snake Valley, said spokesman Roger Buehrer. The fish is not included in the research because it is in the upper Colorado River Basin, he said.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority Board is expected to vote on whether to proceed with the $2 billion pipeline this Thursday. Hearings on the Snake Valley groundwater petitions by the water authority have been delayed by the state engineer until September 2019.

The northern leatherside chub was found in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and rivers in Nevada, but this fish, introduced into the Colorado River Basin, has dwindled because of water developments, altered streams, grazing and non-native brown trout, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

After the 90-day comment period, the federal government will begin a nine-month to year-long study, called a status review, of all 29 species to find out if any warrant the candidate list, a 251-species group waiting for further federal action, said Ann Carlson, endangered species listing coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver.

While some environmentalists are pushing for an emergency listing for some species, Carlson said that such action is taken in only a handful of cases where an imminent threat to the plant, animal, bird or insect involved.

The Fish and Wildlife Service defines endangered species as one that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant part of its range, Carlson said. A threatened species is one that is likely to become endangered soon.

The species review grew from a July 24, 2007 formal request from the Forest Guardians, now the WildEarth Guardians, based in Santa Fe, N.M.