'Stage 4 exceptional drought' for Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer held off for now

Officials with the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District anticipate declaring a Stage 4 exceptional drought, an unprecedented move expected to have wide impacts across the area.

AUSTIN, Texas - Michael Markowski was knee-deep in Barton Creek, alongside representatives from US Geological Survey and the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD).

"The whole stream is about 90 feet across, and we're dividing it up into about two-foot sections," Markowski said. "So we're getting a width in each section, and we're also getting a depth and a velocity, and we can kind of add all these volume measurements together."

Barton Springs is one of two indicators the conservation district uses to monitor the Edwards Aquifer.

"We're expecting [the measurements] will confirm the provisional data that we have, and that is that we have crossed the threshold into Stage IV Exceptional Drought," said Tim Loftus, general manager of the BSEACD.

However, in an email update to FOX 7 Thursday evening, Loftus said a move to Stage IV was no longer imminent this month.

"What we discovered is that there is a discrepancy between direct flow data collected today and flow that is derived from a statistical relationship with stage. The latter is what the USGS gauge generates every 15 minutes."

Moving into Stage IV is unprecedented, with a wide impact.

"Most of our permitted volume goes to public water suppliers. So, for example, the City of Buda, the City of Kyle, we also have investor-owned utilities like Aqua, Texas. So what happens with those suppliers is with each stage of drought, they've got to curtail pumping at greater and greater levels," said Loftus. "In order for these public water suppliers to stay in compliance, they need all the water users, all of their ratepayers and customers, to cut back on water use."

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Also at play are environmental concerns.

"We require cutbacks not just for the health of all the users, depending on the aquifer, but also the endangered species that live in the aquifer and in the pool," said Loftus.

In Hays County, Blue Hole Regional Park was closed to swimming earlier this week. Jacob’s Well hasn’t been open to swimming since last summer.

"Usually, we can expect millions of gallons of water to be coming out of Jacob's Well every single day, if not more. That water sustains drinking, farming, fishing and agriculture from here all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico," said Katherine Sturdivant, parks education coordinator for the Hays County Parks Department. "It's affecting millions of people that rely on that water for a number of things. But more locally, Cypress Creek is going dry in a number of spots. And a lot of people here consider that to be the lifeblood of Wimberley. It is a creek that runs right through the heart of the City."

Just like Barton Springs serves as an indicator of the status of the Edwards Aquifer, Jacob’s Well reveals the health of the Trinity Aquifer.

"Basically, we're taking the temperature or the pulse of the groundwater here at Jacob's Well," said Sturdivant. "So we can physically see the flows stopping here at Jacobs Well. We can't really see it underground and in people's wells and faucets and pipes, but this is a visual representation of what that's going to look like really soon. It tells us that our groundwater levels are way too low, and it tells me that this entire system is out of balance."

Austin to enter stage 2 drought restrictions

The city of Austin will enter stage two drought restrictions next week. This comes as lake levels continue to drop, threatening the cities water supply.

Of note, the Trinity Aquifer is deeper and recharges more slowly than the Edwards.

Regarding the recent rain in Central Texas, experts were in consensus.

"The trees and plants and wildlife benefited from yesterday’s very brief and limited showers that fell in Austin and the Hill Country. Aquifer levels did not," said Charlie Flatten, general manager of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District.

Flatten noted that typical aquifer recharge in the Hill Country is about 5% of total rainfall. Most of the 5% is recharged into the aquifers through creek and riverbeds. But because drought dries out the soil, the ground is currently acting as a "bone-dry sponge," and it soaked up the rain before it could flow into the creek and riverbeds.

Sturdivant noted one silver lining, a growing awareness.

"The visual of Jacob's Well is so shocking and so intense that it stops people in their tracks immediately. And people who have never seen Jacob's Well know immediately that something is wrong. It's having its impact. It's making people think," she said. "They're saying, ‘Why is it like that? Where is the water? What's happening to the water?’"