The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) have added new voluntary measures and best management practices for development projects in parts of Bexar, Travis, and Williamson counties. The suggestions are aimed at maintaining water quality and protecting the rare bugs that live in caves above the aquifer -- while complying with TCEQ's Edwards Aquifer rules and the Endangered Species Act.

The Service and TCEQ's responsibilities for natural resources overlap in cases of water quality and endangered species protection. In 2005, to streamline permitting processes, the two agencies collaborated on voluntary optional water quality measures that protected several federally endangered and threatened species, such as the Barton Springs salamander. Today's addendum expands the advice to include 17 invertebrate species that reside underground in caves above the aquifer.

"These new measures reflect a partnership between the two agencies," said TCEQ Chairman Buddy Garcia. "These voluntary authorizations include enhanced water quality measures and best practices. They will meet requirements from the State of Texas to protect water quality in the Edwards Aquifer, while also addressing habitat preservation issues for these endangered species."

Invertebrates are animals with no backbone or internal skeleton. Many of them have adapted to life underground. The 17 invertebrate species live only in caves and other underground (karst) spaces, and many of them are along the pathway between rainfall and peoples drinking water. All are small, have reduced eyes or are eyeless species, and include harvestmen (daddy long legs) pseudoscorpions, spiders, meshweavers (spider-like species), and beetles. All are non-aquatic species that live in high humidity underground environments and depend on surface runoff to maintain that humidity.

"These species exist above the aquifer from which some people in the counties draw their drinking water. Protecting water quality that enters their habitat helps to maintain high quality drinking water for people," said Benjamin N. Tuggle, Ph.D. Southwest Regional Director for the Service. "They simply can't survive in habitat receiving contaminated runoff. We all have a vested interest in the present and future quality of the water in the Edwards Aquifer."

These optional measures are designed to enhance the protection of the species covered under this document by providing for a higher level of water quality protection and can be used by those who wish to avoid harming listed karst dwelling invertebrate species from water quality impacts.

Currently, development projects must receive a water quality authorization from the TCEQ, and avoid impacts to endangered species in the area of their proposed development. Under the voluntary process, developers that opt to comply with the TCEQ measures will receive a water quality authorization through the TCEQ. The Service considers that those who follow the measures are avoiding water quality impacts to endangered species. Some situations may still warrant direct consultation with the Service, such as those projects requiring a federal permit, those that could impact listed species that are not water quality related, those that could impact other listed species not covered by the measures, and projects outside the area covered by TCEQ's Edwards Aquifer Rules in Bexar, Travis, and Williamson Counties.

The Service is committed to collaborating with the TCEQ in a monitoring and adaptive management program. Users of these measures will be committed to sharing the results of their monitoring, making it available for trend analyses. If analysis of Edwards Aquifer monitoring information indicates water quality degradation that may impact the species, then the TCEQ and the Service would meet to evaluate the causes and, if necessary, take additional actions. This adaptive management program assures that the optional technical guidance measures (applied in conjunction with Edwards Rules) will protect these listed species from water quality impacts.

"These voluntary water quality measures reflect our common goals and are designed to enhance the conservation of species by providing water quality protection measures that satisfy the regulatory missions of both the State of Texas and the Service," said Tuggle.

To learn more about the enhanced voluntary measures, go to www.tceq.state.tx.us/compliance/field_ops/eapp/program.html.

Species affected by the addendum are:

Bexar County:

• Madla cave meshweaver Cicurina madla
• Robber Baron Cave meshweaver Cicurina baronia
• Braken Bat Cave meshweaver Cicurina venii
• Government Canyon Bat Cave meshweaver Cicurina vespera
• Government Canyon Bat Cave spider Neoleptoneta microps

• Cokendolpher cave harvestman Texella cokendolpheri
• Ground beetle (no common name) Rhadine exilis
• Ground beetle (no common name) Rhadine infernalis
• Helotes mold beetle Batrisodes venyivi

Travis and Williamson counties:

• Bee Creek Cave harvestman Texella reddelli
• Bone Cave harvestman Texella reyesi
• Kretschmarr Cave mold beetle Texamaurops reddelli
• Tooth Cave pseudoscorpion Tartarocreagris texana
• Tooth Cave ground beetle Rhadine persephone
• Tooth Cave spider Neoleptoneta myopica
• Coffin cave mold beetle Batrisodes texanus
• Warton meshweaver Cicurina wartoni (candidate)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 97-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 fish, wildlife management offices, and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.