Healing Austin’s Aquifer(WIP)
I grew up on a ridge next to Barton creek greenbelt in Austin Texas. Throughout my life, I’ve walked the creek. I have gotten to know all of its inhabitants, its ebbs and it’s flows. The creek has dried up during my short lifetime. When I was young my parents and I would not be able to cross anytime of year without taking our shoes off. In highschool it only flowed seasonally and my friends and I would raft 8 miles down it after the May rains, the only time we could. This year in 2024, even the May rains did supply sufficient hydration in the landscape to create consistent above ground flow for more than a few hours during the rainstorm.
What has happened here? Why is our creek drying up? Is it raining less? and most importantly in this forward thinking collective, what can we do about it?
Firstly, what has happened here:
Since the turn of the millennium Austin Texas has boomed in population, the thriving city with its iconic river has seen massive immigration. With this influx comes a great deal of housing and commercial development. Even in the face of resistance from wonderful community organizations like Save Our Springs impervious cover has been placed in the collection area of Barton creek’s water shed. At the same time many trees have been cut down and the surrounding agricultural soils have continued to degrade as chemical agriculture has attempted to squeeze the last out of our lands with larger and larger toxic inputs.
Let’s talk about some watershed mechanisms to understand how these factors impact the flow of barton creek. Firstly, consistent creek flow comes from a water table that is above the ground at that particular local area. That’s right there is a level at which the land is hydrated, at which the stones are filled with water. Here’s a graphics of Edward’s aquifer, the intricate network of karst features that lies beneath south Austin and much of central Texas.
Notice how in the highlands the water flows into the permeable limestone, and in the low lands it reemerges as a spring. This is a good understanding to work from. Essentially, over the last 20 years and the years before the water table has been getting lower in Austin, and across most of the globe, because the land hasn’t been able to soak up enough water. This makes springs retreat, and streams become seasonal or disappear completely. Now I know the sadness that this brings to you as it brings to me. I am not here to wallow in sadness for you but instead to incite hope for how we can bring those springs back to life and those stream s flowing year round in even greater abundance than they’ve ever seen.
People are bringing springs back to life and landscapes into great health through regenerating the soils.
Healthy soils have two major water table replenishing aspects. They absorb all the water that falls on to them. Secondly, They manipulate atmospheric moisture to create more rainfall. See the biotic pump theory and my blog on how healthy soils encourage rainfall.
Contrary to popular opinion I am excited by this influx, it demonstrates that many people are excited by how we are doing things in my hometown. Austin will stay weird I have no doubt.