Could Jackson One Lake flood control project be delayed due to ... turtles?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruled in favor of protecting the Pearl River map turtle under the Endangered Species Act on Tuesday. The decision puts a bump in the road for a potential dam, part of the controversial "One Lake" development project, the Army Corps of Engineers planned to put in the Pearl River.

While the ruling protects the turtles themselves, it delays designating protections for the turtles’ habitats by a year.

“We’re disappointed that the Service didn’t designate critical habitat for the Pearl River map turtles, but these protections couldn’t have come at a more important time,” said senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity Lindsay Reeves. “The Army Corps of Engineers is considering a plan to dam the Pearl River, which is the only place on Earth where these turtles live.”

Under the new protections, the Corps could still build the dam but would have to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before beginning construction. The dam is part of the “One Lake” plan, a flood-control project that would also widen the Pearl River to create more riverfront access for housing and economic development. It would create a 2,562-acre lake.

More on One Lake Project: New flood control plan for Pearl River would be far less expensive

Pearl River map turtles are freshwater turtles native to the Pearl River in Mississippi and Louisiana, using beaches to build nests. The turtles get their name from the map-like patterns on their shells. The endangered turtles cannot survive in lakes and the dams would flood their nesting sites, worrying environmentalist groups like the Center for Biological Diversity.

The female of the species has large jaws and a selective feeding strategy to consume the mussels in the Pearl River.

One Lake Project Timeline: Timeline: History of the One Lake flood control project for the Pearl River

“If you wanted to protect her and ensure she has adequate food then you'd also want to look at the mussels, so that would be a difference the critical habitat [designation] could make,” Andrew Whitehurst, Water Program Director at the non-profit Healthy Gulf, said.

Adding protections for the turtle’s habitats would create “a broader circle of consideration about how to protect the animal,” he added.

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Tuesday’s decision federally protects the Pearl River map turtle species from poaching and illegal shooting as well as four similar turtle species: the Alabama map turtle, Barbour’s map turtle, Escambia map turtle and Pascagoula map turtle.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Endangered species could delay flood control project in Jackson MS