Seven species of Texas freshwater mussels are now protected under the Endangered Species Act, including several that reside in the Guadalupe River, which flows just north and east of San Antonio.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized protections last week for seven species of freshwater mussels: the Guadalupe fatmucket, Texas fatmucket, Guadalupe orb, Texas pimpleback, Balcones spike, and false spike, which will be designated as endangered, and the Texas fawnsfoot, which is receiving a threatened listing.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife also designated more than 1,570 miles of rivers and creeks in the Brazos, Colorado and Guadalupe river basins as critical habitat for the mussels. The Endangered Species Act prohibits federal agencies from issuing permits or granting funds for actions that would destroy or harm critical habitat areas.
These species are critical to the health of several major Texas freshwater rivers, said Michael Robinson, a senior conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, a grassroots nonprofit known for its work protecting endangered species through legal action and scientific petitions. The center filed a lawsuit last year against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to finalize Endangered Species Act protections for six of the mussels.
“These mussels filter yucky organic gunk from rivers and keep Texas waters clean for all manner of life, including people,” he said. “Even if these mussels weren’t vital to their freshwater ecosystems and quietly helpful to humanity, they’re fascinating animals that deserve to survive into the future.”
The protection of these habitats is a big win for local river ecosystems and the Texans who enjoy them, said Shaun Donovan, manager of environmental sciences for the San Antonio River Authority.
“It’s a rising tide and all boats sort of situation,” Donovan said. “Critical habitat designation is just as important as the protection of the animals since it allows a holistic community service approach to protecting these areas.”
Once abundant in the area, the seven mussel species that call Central Texas home have declined in recent years due to reduced water quality and habitat destruction, stated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a recent press release.
“These unique freshwater mussels are found nowhere else in the world but in the rivers and streams of Central Texas,” said Southwest Regional Director Amy Lueders. “Saving these mussels isn’t just about preserving the biodiversity of the region, it also helps protect the waterways that people rely on for water and recreation.”
Lueders added that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is “committed to working with local communities to ensure they have the tools they need to protect and recover these imperiled species.”
In their press release, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service noted that several state water authorities have demonstrated their commitment to conserving these mussels by developing voluntary Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances with U.S. Fish and Wildlife including the Brazos River Authority, Lower Colorado River Authority, Trinity River Authority and Tarrant Regional Water District. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated it is also developing a Habitat Conservation Plan with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA).
The listing of the freshwater mussels will support both new and current conservation efforts for the species, while for the threatened Texas fawnsfoot, the 4(d) rule will apply to provide for the conservation of the species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. The 4(d) rule is a tool in the Endangered Species Act that allows the Secretary of the Interior to create regulations to protect threatened species.
“Creative collaboration with Central Texas river authorities has led to some groundbreaking conservation actions making it possible to list the Texas fawnsfoot as threatened,” Lueders said. “That’s important because it opens the door to more flexibility for solutions that reduce the threats to these mussels while boosting water quality in the watershed.”
GBRA has been preparing for the potential listing of the mussels through the development of the basin-wide Guadalupe River Habitat Conservation Plan, said the GBRA’s Executive Manager of Environmental Science Nathan Pence in a recent blog post. The plan will allow the GBRA to continue providing essential water and wastewater services while “identifying mitigation measures to offset any impacts to the habitat that these endangered species rely on,” Pence wrote. He added the GBRA hopes to have a draft of the plan submitted to the feds by 2026.
