Nossaman, Paul Weiland Highlighted for ESA Fight in Texas

Paul Weiland’s work on an Endangered Species Act (ESA) lawsuit filed on behalf of Williamson County, the city of Georgetown and the Williamson County Conservation Foundation was highlighted in the E&E News Greenwire article “Critical habitat for two Texas salamanders draws lawsuit” (subscription required). The article provides an overview of how Nossaman’s Texas-based clients are fighting the Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) designation of critical habitat for the Georgetown and Salado salamanders.

Lawsuits filed by environmental interests led the agency to designate the salamanders under the ESA and earmark 1,315 acres in central Texas as critical habitat. The salamanders live in the northern section of the Edwards Aquifer, a 3,600 square mile aquifer that is the main water source for the San Antonio metropolitan area. FWS identified the critical habitat partially by drawing concentric circles around springs and streams assumed to be habitats for the salamanders. In its lawsuit, Williamson County, the city of Georgetown and the Williamson County Conservation Foundation contend this was an inaccurate designation.

E&E notes that in the complaint, Paul wrote on behalf of Nossaman’s clients, “Despite much research, little is known about the history, life cycle and basic habitat needs of the salamanders, including, but not limited to, the limits of surface and subsurface occupation of habitat, and the precise water quality conditions necessary for the species.” He continued, “The FWS’s admitted lack of information concerning the basic life history and needs of the salamanders should have led the agency to a conclusion that critical habitat for the two species was not determinable.”

Additionally, E&E highlights that Paul wrote FWS “acknowledged in the Final Rule that ‘the true extent to which the subterranean populations of these species exist below ground away from outlets of the spring system is unknown because the hydrology of central Texas is very complex and information on the hydrology of specific springs sites is largely unknown.”

In addition to Paul, Rebecca Hays Barho and Jennifer Seely are counsel on the matter.