About
- About
  
  The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is committed to conserving, protecting, recharging, and preventing waste of groundwater and preserving all aquifers in the District. The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District was created in 1987 with a directive to conserve, protect, and enhance the groundwater resources in its jurisdictional area.
Aquifer Science
- Aquifer Science
  
  BSEACD Aquifer Science team provides sound science to support policy and tactical decisions made by the District that affect water supply users and endangered species habitat. Collecting basic hydrogeologic data and planning and executing projects enhances the understanding of the water resources within the District’s boundaries.
Regulatory Program
- Regulatory Program
  
  The Regulatory Compliance Team is responsible for a wide range of the District’s responsibilities. Regulatory Compliance Team members have also actively attended and participated in community outreach and regional development and planning groups and served as District liaisons to local municipalities, political subdivisions, permittees, and licensed drillers and pump installers in the area.
Education
- Education
  
  The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer District actively participates and hosts events designed to engage and educate groundwater users and District residents. Events include stewardship awards, festivals, creek cleanups, presentations to schools and community groups, and teacher trainings.
Projects
- Projects
  
  The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District has a number of special projects to help advance the scientific understanding and better manage groundwater resources within the District.
Publications
- Publications
  
  One of the most effective ways to conserve, protect, and manage our the groundwater resources is to keep you informed of the science, current conditions, and regulations affecting our District. Sign up on the Friends of the District email list and receive: Quarterly newsletters, Aquifer status updates, Drought declarations, Conservation information, and Important news.
Transparency
- Transparency
  
  The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District strives to meet a high standard by providing clear, consistent pictures of spending, and by sharing information in user-friendly formats, to promote financial transparency and accountability, not only through financial reports but also through summaries, visualizations, downloadable data, and other relevant information.

Publications

Summary of Groundwater Tracing in the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer from 1996 to 2017

Report: View
Topic: Groundwater Tracing and Groundwater Flow Studies
Source: City of Austin
Format: Report
Year: 2019

The Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer is an important resource for the region and understanding how the aquifer functions is critical to the conservation and preservation of the resource. Groundwater tracing is an important tool used to characterize the recharge areas, flow paths, groundwater velocities, dispersion, and fate of water in karst aquifers. Results of groundwater tracing demonstrate that a significant component of groundwater flow is rapid, discrete, and occurs in an integrated network of conduits, caves, and smaller dissolution features. Groundwater generally flows west to east within the recharge zone in secondary conduit systems that converge with northeast trending primary conduits defined by troughs in the potentiometric surface parallel to faulting and fracturing. Groundwater flow is very rapid from recharge features to wells and springs, with velocities ranging from 1 to 7 miles/day (1.6 – 11.3 kilometers/day) depending on hydrologic conditions. Tracing studies have further revealed the complexity of groundwater subbasins and the dynamic nature of the southern groundwater divide within the aquifer. This report presents an overview of 23 years of groundwater tracing from 1996 to 2017 in the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer.