Increased drilling and permit requests in the Middle Trinity Aquifer have highlighted the need for increased data collection and evaluation to better manage this limited resource. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the representativeness of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District’s (BSEACD) drought trigger methodology (DTM) for the…

A consortium of central Texas agencies and groundwater scientists conducted a series of studies of the Trinity Aquifers that culminated in publication of the Hydrogeologic Atlas of the Hill Country Trinity Aquifer (Wierman et al., 2010). A continuation of those studies has revealed a hydrologic connection between the Middle Trinity…

The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD or the District) was formed to conserve, protect, and enhance the groundwater resources in its jurisdictional area, which covers the unconfined (recharge) zone and the confined zone of the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer in central Texas. The Edwards Aquifer has…

Increased demand for groundwater in central Hays County is prompting studies to evaluate the availability of groundwater in the Trinity Aquifers of central Texas. These aquifers, consisting mostly of limestone, dolomite, and marl, exhibit varying degrees of karstification. Near the surface, karst features such as caves and sinkholes are evident,…

The Trinity Aquifer of central Texas is a critical groundwater resource for water supply, ecological, and recreational uses. However, limited continuous water level data exists to characterize the aquifer system. Accordingly, in 2008, the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District (HTGCD) initiated a water level monitoring program across central Hays County…

Groundwater levels provide critical information about the hydrologic relationships of recharge and discharge to storage within an aquifer, and the direction of groundwater flow. The District maintains over 40 monitor wells to track water levels using continuous-recording instruments or periodic manual measurements. The District monitors groundwater levels within the Edwards,…

The Edwards Aquifer is a prolific karst aquifer system in Central Texas that provides drinking water to about 2 million people. Because a significant portion of the water recharging the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer enters the subsurface through caves and enlarged fractures in the bed of Onion Creek,…

Summary Increased demand for water in central Texas is causing water users and providers to look for additional sources of water. The saline portion of the Edwards Aquifer (saline Edwards Aquifer) has often been mentioned as a source of water for desalination or aquifer storage and recovery (ASR). The resource…

Sudden cover-collapse sinkhole (doline) development is uncommon in the karstic Cretaceous-age Edwards limestone of central Texas. This paper presents a case-study of a sinkhole that formed within a stormwater retention pond (SWRP) in southwest Austin. Results presented include hydrogeologic characterizations, fate of stormwater, and mitigation of the sinkhole. On January…

The Ruby Ranch Water Supply Corporation (RRWSC) and the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (District) cooperated on a project to test the Middle Trinity Aquifer as a reservoir for storage and recovery of fresh Edwards Aquifer groundwater. In March 2017, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) granted permission to…