Established to conserve, protect, and enhance the groundwater resources of the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer and the underlying Trinity Aquifer.
The District boundary encompasses approximately 247 square miles in Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, and Travis Counties. The area has a long history of farming, ranching, and rural domestic use of groundwater, but it is increasingly and rapidly being converted to residential use owing to suburban and exurban development from Austin and San Marcos. The use of groundwater in the segment has grown over the last 75 years from just incidental amounts to now serving as either a sole source or a primary source of drinking water of some 60,000 people. It also is the source of water for Barton Springs Pool in Austin’s Zilker Park, and its associated spring-dependent species.
The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is committed to conserving, protecting, recharging, and preventing waste of groundwater and to preserving all the aquifers in the District.
