More species considered for protection, further complicating Edwards pumping
By Asher Price

In a move that will further complicate efforts to weigh pumping demands by humans and habitat for species, the Obama administration agreed late Friday to reconsider critical habitat designation for 12 endangered Texas invertebrates, including three species from Comal Springs and nine species from caves in Bexar County.

The reconsideration could expand protected areas for the species, mostly tiny invertebrates. That expansion, in turn, could have consequences for groundwater pumping from the Edwards Aquifer, which feeds the springs in which some of the species live.

The Edwards Aquifer is the primary source of water for San Antonio, and government officials, environmentalists, landowners, utilities and others are currently hashing out strategies for protecting endangered species that live in and around the aquifer.

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