Rains Help Aquifer; Don't End Drought

Stage II Alarm Drought
Barton Springs discharge 29 cfs 10-day average
Lovelady monitor well 469.91 ft-msl

Last week some parts of Austin received 6 inches of rain. Much of that precipitation fell directly over or slightly east of the recharge zone of the aquifer, and caused a small rise in groundwater levels and increased discharge at Barton Springs. As welcome as the rain was, it would have been much more beneficial to groundwater supply for more of it to have fallen further west in the watersheds of the creeks that flow over the recharge zone. Sustained flow in the creeks is the most important source of recharge to the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer. Rain fall directly on the recharge zone is not as likely to generate the amounts of surface runoff and flow in the creeks that are so important to providing water to our segment of the Edwards Aquifer. The bump in water levels is unlikely to last more than a couple of weeks or lead to conditions that would call for lifting the current drought declaration. A huge benefit of the recent rains is that soils are now primed to generate surface runoff if we get even modest rains in the right places.

Click here to go to the District facebook page for more on last week's rain.