AUSTIN The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is announcing the availability of a draft recovery plan for three endangered aquatic invertebrates that live in a small, isolated desert spring system and ciénega in the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas. The draft recovery plan is based on a Species Status Assessment Report completed in 2020.
The Diamond tryonia, Gonzales tryonia, and Pecos amphipod, collectively referred to as the Diamond Y Invertebrates, can be found in the Diamond Y Spring system in Pecos County. The most important factors that may affect the continued survival of the Diamond Y Invertebrates are primarily related to groundwater pumping, which has impacted desert springs across the region.
The overall recovery strategy for the Diamond Y Invertebrates involves preserving, restoring, and managing their aquatic habitat, along with the water resources necessary to support resilient populations of these species and the ecosystems on which they depend.
“The Diamond Y Spring system is one of the largest ciénegas remaining in West Texas,” said Adam Zerrenner, the Service’s Austin Ecological Services Field Office Supervisor. “Efforts to support perennial springflow won’t just help with the recovery of the Diamond Y Invertebrates, they will also help protect a variety of other fish and wildlife species that rely on this important aquatic ecosystem.”
In addition to the three Diamond Y Invertebrates, The Nature Conservancy’s Diamond Y Spring Preserve provides important habitat for four other federally endangered or threatened species, including the Leon Springs pupfish, Pecos gambusia, Pecos sunflower and Pecos assiminea.
Recovery plans are road maps to guide the recovery process and measure progress toward recovery. Recommendations provided in this plan are based on resolving threats to the Diamond Y Invertebrates and ensuring self-sustaining populations in the wild. The draft recovery plan for the Diamond Y Invertebrates was developed in partnership with species experts to provide a vision, strategy and the criteria to recover the species, along with recovery actions and estimates of the time and cost needed to reach recovery.
The Service encourages the public to comment on the recovery plan here: tinyurl.com/297r94cd. Public comments will be accepted through January 2, 2022.
