Management of the City of Austin's water quality protection lands. Lujan, Joanna^*,1, Conrad, Willy^*,1, Thuesen, Kevin^*,1, ¹ Austin Water Utility, Wildlands Conservation Div., Austin, TX, USA

ABSTRACT- In 1998 the City of Austin approved the issuance of $65 million in utility revenue supported bonds for the acquisition of land in both fee title and easement in the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer for the conservation and protection of part of the city′s water supply. Over 14,000 acres, 7169 in fee simple and 7709 in conservation easements, were purchased with these funds. Since then additional tracts of lands have been acquired increasing the Water Quality Protection Lands to over 15,000 acres. All of the properties lie within either the recharge zone or the contributing zone of the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer. Properties are grouped into five watersheds along Bull, Barton, Slaughter, Bear and Onion creeks. Vegetation types range from mature Oak/Juniper forests to native grass savannas to open pastures. Historically most of the properties were used for the production of livestock. These tracts differ from traditional range management in that the primary objective is to produce optimum levels of clean, high quality water to recharge the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer. While the primary goals may be non-typical to traditional range management, land management practices such as brush control, erosion control, riparian restoration, and management of wildlife populations are similar. In addition to planning, implementing and monitoring land management activities, other issues such as research, public support and public education are essential.

KEY WORDS: management, watershed