WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Guardians Petitions for Federal Protection for the Scott Lake Riffle Beetle

Plight of Small Insect Reveals Water Crisis in the Ogallala Aquifer
Contact: Taylor Jones (505) 490-5141

Washington, DC – WildEarth Guardians today submitted a petition asking the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the Scott Lake riffle beetle under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This insect lives in only one spring in the world – Big Springs in Lake Scott State Park in western Kansas – and its unique habitat is threatened by the dewatering of the underlying Ogallala Aquifer.

“Dewatering doesn’t just harm this rare and unique insect, it impacts everyone and everything that depends on the aquifer,” said Taylor Jones, Endangered Species Advocate for WildEarth Guardians. “Rare animals with small ranges can act as early warning systems, and this beetle’s decline is an alarm going off.”

The Ogallala Aquifer is an underground reservoir that underlies the High Plains of the United States. It is maintained by stores of water that have been trapped in layers of sediment dating back to the last ice age. It is recharged by rain and snow, but that recharge is minimal (averaging less than one inch annually) and is far outweighed by current depletion. The aquifer is in overdraft from being heavily tapped for agriculture. In parts of western Kansas, the aquifer level has decreased by more than 150 feet, and may be reaching the threshold beyond which it can no longer support heavy water demands.

The Kansas Geological Survey has estimated that in order to be sustainable, water use in the district where the Scott Lake riffle beetle lives would have to decrease by more than 75 percent. Declining groundwater diminishes flows in springs fed exclusively by the aquifer, including Big Springs. Many springs in western Kansas have already stopped flowing as a result of over-pumping of the Ogallala aquifer, and Big Springs will likely follow suit if demands on the aquifer remain the same.

“The riffle beetle is warning us that we need better long-term planning to preserve a limited resource,” continued Jones. “Otherwise, the beetle is not going to be the only one in trouble.”

Invasive species such as ornamental koi and common carp are also threatening the riffle beetle, and climate change will likely exacerbate drought and demand on the aquifer. Listing under the ESA would provide protection for the beetle and require sustainable use of limited water resources. Listing species under the Endangered Species Act has proven an effective safety net for imperiled species: more than 99 percent of plants and animals listed under the Act persist today. The law is especially important as a bulwark against the current extinction crisis; plants and animals are disappearing at a rate much higher than the natural rate of extinction due to human activities. Scientists estimate that 227 species would have gone extinct if not for ESA listing.