Snail protection targets pipeline plans

Two conservation groups are seeking federal protection for 42 species of spring snail, including several varieties found in rural areas targeted for groundwater development by the Southern Nevada Water Authority.

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society on Tuesday petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate spring snails in Nevada and Utah as endangered species.

The move comes a week after the Tucson, Ariz.-based center announced plans to sue the federal government over its protection of the Moapa dace, an endangered fish found only in the headwaters of the Muddy River, 60 miles north of Las Vegas.

The push to protect spring snails takes specific aim at the water authority's plans to pump groundwater to Las Vegas from wells as much as 250 miles away.

Winning protection for snails no larger than a pinky fingernail would achieve a larger goal, said Tierra Curry, a conservation biologist with the center's office in Portland, Ore.

"If we protect the spring snails, we protect the springs," Curry said. "They're an umbrella species for the conservation of all desert species that depend on the springs."

Bob Williams, state supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Nevada, said he wasn't surprised by the petition.

"I view this in some ways as the center's attempt to put up a hurdle where there doesn't necessarily have to be a hurdle," Williams said, noting that both his office and the water authority already have agreed to protect spring snails.

Water authority spokesman J.C. Davis said if the snails are listed as endangered species, the authority would take whatever steps necessary to comply with that designation.

He added, however, that any link between the authority's pumping plans and the survival of spring snails in those areas is "tenuous at best."

The petition will undergo a 90-day review by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

If the document is deemed scientifically sound, the service will have one year to determine whether the snails qualify as endangered species.

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.