Low levels at Barton Springs rush alarm

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Critically low water flows at Barton Springs rush a push for meetings and warnings from the Save Our Springs Alliance in Austin.

"These recent rains have done very little to replenish the aquifer," said Bill Bunch, Save Our Springs Alliance executive director.

Bunch said he is hoping to meet with City of Austin officials this week about the drought levels, pushing them to restrict pumping upstream of Barton Creek during this critical-stage drought.

Two weeks ago, the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District reported the discharge at Barton Springs Pool at 19.5 cubic feet per second, just below the 20 cfs needed to declare a critical drought stage for the district.

The levels are down from nearly 100 cfs in May 2005.

"We're very close to the record low of the very worst drought on record," said Bunch.

City records show during the seven year historic low drought of the 1950s, Barton Springs water flow reduced to 6.2 million gallons per day, or 9.6 cubic feet per second.

Bunch said he wants the City of Austin, which owns the springs, to put pressure on the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District to ramp up efforts to sanction those not complying with reduction measures during this critical stage drought.

Currently, the Conservation District has placed a 30 percent reduction in pumpage on all of its water users.

Still, Bunch said "they can help us pressure the district to regulate the pumping more stringently."

Those with the Conservation District disagree, saying they have effectively reduced water pumping by about 40 percent since the critical stage drought began last June.

"We're achieving overall, above and beyond our minimum pumpage curtailment," said John Dupnik, an environmental permit specialist with the Conservation District. "It's really about managing the historic users that rely on the aquifer for their drinking water supply."

In April, the Conservation District reported 12 non-compliant water users.

Dupnik said most users are complying with demands to reduce pumpage and says the district is looking for alternative streams of water in Central Texas to take demand away from the Edwards Aquifer.

Still, the Save Our Springs Alliance said the group wants to meet with city staff to come up with more solutions to put pressure on the district.

"It would be a real shame to lose it just for a few months or a year."