Displaying items by tag: mussels
Green floater mussels are somewhat safe here but not elsewhere
WASHINGTON — The green floater, a freshwater mussel native to the waters of Southern Appalachia, is now formally considered at risk of extinction due to the loss and fragmentation of its aquatic habitat.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the green floater, historically found in 10 eastern U.S. states, is likely to become endangered due to existing and emerging threats. The service is proposing to list the mussel as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
The green floater is still found in its native range in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. It is considered locally extinct in Alabama and Georgia.
While the species has strongholds in places, green floaters are rare in nearly 80 percent of the watersheds where they naturally occur. More than 75 percent of the nation’s native freshwater mussel species are endangered or threatened, considered to be of special conservation concern, or presumed extinct, according to USWFS.
Biodiversity in crosshairs as burgeoning Middle Tennessee fears water shortage
Duck River targeted by thirsty, growing municipalities in Nashville area
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout
Marshall County, located outside what was once considered the boundary edge of growing suburbs circling Nashville, has seen explosive growth of its own in recent years — call it the Williamson County overflow effect, says County Mayor Mike Keny.
Drawn by more affordable housing, jobs and the rural character of the county — about an hour from Nashville in the “heart of the Southern Automotive Corridor” (as local economic development officials call it) — the influx of residents, and some relocating business and industry, has brought new urgency to a long-standing reality.
The county doesn’t have its own water supply. For decades, it has had to pay wholesale for drinking water from the cities of Murfreesboro and Lewisburg. That supply is no longer adequate.
A new proposal by county officials calls for building a water treatment facility along the banks of the Duck River in northern Marshall County capable of siphoning up to 6 million gallons of water per day; establish a reliable local water supply for decades to come.
- tennessee water supply
- murfreesboro water
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- williamson county water supply
- duck river
- biodiversity
- mussels
- most biologically diverse river in the united states
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- drinking water
- water treatment facility
- water supply
- urbanization
- marshall county tn
- southern automotive corridor
- tennesse wildlife resources agency
- aquatic biodiversity
- pale liliput mussel
- rabbitsfoot mussel
- the nature conservancy
- tennessee department of environment and conservation
- tdec
- twra