The Center for Biological Diversity and the Save Our Springs Alliance have notified the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration that they intend to file suit against the agencies for approving the so-called MoPac Intersections project without consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees protection of endangered species. According […]
Austin Blind Salamander
The Austin Blind Salamander lives in the underground waters of the Edwards Aquifer, below the surface of Barton Springs, its only known habitat. “Euycea waterlooensis” is an endangered species.
Posted inAustin, Environment
Watershed Protection outlines salamander plan
Watershed Protection Department staff dived into the details of the city’s Habitat Management Plan on Wednesday. The plan will protect the Barton Springs salamander and the Austin blind salamander, two federally endangered species known to live exclusively in Barton Springs. Watershed Protection salamander biologist Tom Devitt told the Environmental Board that the plan includes a […]
Posted inEnvironment
Aquifer District ramping up for Habitat Conservation Plan
A decade in the making, the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is making progress on a Habitat Conservation Plan aimed at mitigating groundwater-pumping effects on endangered salamanders. The ultimate goal of the plan is to acquire a federal Incidental Take Permit – a risk reduction measure protecting the district and its well permittees from potential […]