Trace Amounts of Rain in August

Stage II Alarm Drought

Barton Springs flow: 32.3 cfs 10-day average

Lovelady monitor well: 472.03 ft-msl

August has turned out to be a very dry month. At the time of this post, rain gauges at the District offices, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, and Camp Mabry received little more than trace amounts of moisture during the entire month. The historic average rainfall for August is just over 2 inches. As a result of this lack of precipitation, water levels in the aquifer continue the descending trend that lead the District Board of Directors to declare Stage II Alarm drought at their last meeting on August 14. 

District Board declares Stage II Alarm Drought

The Board of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District unanimously declared Stage II Alarm Drought at its August 14, 2014 meeting. Both drought indicators are below their respective threshold and indicated the declaration. This triggers a mandatory monthly reduction of 20% by permittees of the District.

Stage II Alarm Drought pending

Both Lovelady and Barton Springs are below their respective Alarm Stage II thresholds. The Board will meet this Thursday evening and will discuss the drought status.  It is likely that drought will be declared, but we'll keep everyone posted.

Water Levels still Falling

No Drought

Barton Springs: 47 cfs 10-day average

Lovelady monitor well: 475.4 ft-msl

Water levels in the aquifer continue to recede. Since the last substantial rain event we received in July, which caused a brief rise in the hydrograph at Barton Springs, spring discharge has been steadily declining. The USGS reports the most recent instantaneous discharge value to be 45 cfs, still above the drought threshold for Barton Springs of 38 cfs. The water level in Lovelady monitor well was largely unaffected by the rain in July and has been dropping since the beginning of that month. Water level in Lovelady well is below its drought threshold. The District Board meets next week at which point they are likely to make a drought declaration if no substantial recharge occurs.