Batt Seeks Aid For Snail

Gov. Phil Batt is marshaling state and local officials to save an endangered pinhead-size snail in Owyhee County.

He has asked Idaho’s congressional delegation to find $300,000 to protect the aquifer sustaining the Bruneau hot springs snail under a plan written by a Batt-appointed committee.

The state wants to pay farmers to stop irrigating unproductive land or to buy water rights to reduce pressure on the water supply that feeds the springs sustaining the snail.

“Instead of fighting about it, we’re trying to reduce the amount of water taken out of the aquifer to see if that in fact makes a difference,” Batt spokesman Lindsey Nothern said.