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Barton Springs are located in Austin's Zilker Park not far from the UT campus. Don't ever try to tell someone in Austin that Barton Springs is a relatively minor Edwards Aquifer water feature! Austinites love and revere Barton Springs like no other spot.
On the far bank is Main Spring, which fills a swimming hole that Austinites regard as sacred. Here, pilgrims submit to the embrace of these cool aquamarine waters. Notice what's missing is the pilgrims. On this day in the early 1990s, the pool was closed and drained because of water quality concerns.
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There are four main spring orifices that are the only known habitat for the Barton Springs salamander, a federally listed endangered species. These four springs are the primary discharge point for the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer. Main Spring feeds the 750' long swimming pool. There is a dam at each end of the pool; the upper dam directs flow from Upper Spring and Barton Creek into a bypass culvert so that stormwater flows do not enter the swimming area. Old Mill Spring is just south of Barton Creek about 450' below the lower dam. The fourth spring, Eliza Spring, is adjacent to the swimming pool and is surrounded by a deep concrete ampitheatre that used to also be a swimming hole but is now reserved for the salamanders.
It has long been accepted that a groundwater divide separates this portion of the Edwards Aquifer from the central (San Antonio) portion and the large springs in San Marcos, New Braunfels, and San Antonio. But in April 2010 a study commissioned by the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority found that groundwater level data indicates the groundwater divide dissipates
and no longer hydrologically separates the two segments during major droughts and current levels of pumping. As a result, there is potential for some groundwater to bypass San Marcos Springs and flow toward Barton Springs during major droughts. The groundwater divide appears to be influenced by recharge along Onion Creek and the Blanco River and is vulnerable to extended periods of little or no recharge and extensive pumping. See the complete study.
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The highly revered swimming hole at Barton Springs in July 2008. |
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Looking toward Main Spring from the lower end of the 750' long swimming pool. |
For Barton Springs, about 85% of Aquifer recharge comes from six major surface streams that cross the recharge zone: Barton Creek, Onion Creek, Slaughter Creek, Bear Creek, Little Bear Creek, and Williamson Creek (Slade, Dorsey, and Stewart, 1986). During storm events, sinkholes and fractures in the stream bed can quickly provide large volumes of water to recharge. Dye-tracing studies have found that several preferential ground-water flow paths lead to the Springs and that the four springs do not all receive water from the same flow paths (BSEACD, 2003 and Hunt, Smith, Beery, Johns, and Hauwert, 2006). Dye-tracing studies have also revealed that underground flow velocities toward the Springs are highly variable and can be quite rapid, up to six miles per day (Hauwert, Samson, Johns, and Aley, 2004). Swimmers notice that waters in the pool can become quite cloudy and turbid after rain events.
In January 2003 the
pool was closed for 90 days for environmental testing after the Austin
American-Statesman reported that high
levels of arsenic and seven benzene-based compounds were found in the
pool and upstream on a hillside overlooking
Barton Creek. It was suggested that a possible source of the
contamination was wastes dumped from nearby coal gasification plants that produced fuel for city lighting from the
1870s to 1928. Subsequently, it was determined the contaminant
levels do not pose a threat and are from urbanization, not a waste
dump. Retired hydrologist Raymond M. Slade, Jr.,
who supervised and authored many scientific studies on Barton Springs
during his working career, prepared a detailed professional opinion on
the matter and you can read
it here. Mr. Slade concluded that although the water quality of
Barton Springs is still well within swimming criteria, it is likely
that uncontrolled urbanization in the watersheds feeding the Springs
will eventually cause Barton Springs to be degraded to the extent that
it must be permanently closed to swimming.
In 2006, the United States Geological Survey published a Scientific Investigations Report that summarized water quality sampling performed from 2003 to 2005. Barton Springs was found to be affected by persistent low concentrations of atrazine (an herbicide), chloroform (a by-product of drinking water disinfection), and tetrachloroethane (a solvent). Concentrations peaked 1-2 days after storm events, and Upper Spring was found to be more contaminated and influenced by a contributing flow path that is separate from those leading to the other springs under all but stormflow conditions. The geochemical response at the Springs after storm events led the authors to conclude that when there is flow in the recharge streams, water directly enters conduits and is transported straight to the Springs. When there is no flow in recharge streams, water drains from the surrounding limestone matrix into the conduits that feed the Springs. You can get the report from the USGS website or right here.
In 2008, the fight to preserve Barton Springs was the subject of The Unforseen, a documentary co-produced by Robert Redford, who learned to swim there as a child. The movie uses the struggle over development in the Barton Creek watershed to illustrate the many clashes between private property rights and resource protection that are occurring across the country. The film drew great reviews, but some developers said it went too far and portays them unfairly. Environmentalists said the movie is not hard enough on those who would develop lands at the expense of common resources like Barton Springs.
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Robert Redford at Barton Springs talking about environmental stewardship, from The Unforseen. You should go see it. |
Daily discharge measurements since 1978 show that flows from Barton Springs are rarely less than 10 million gallons per day and rarely exceed 80. Flows can vary widely depending on recent weather conditions and can drop rather quickly when dry conditions prevail. The USGS considers these records to be of poor quality, because the operation of the swimming pool can significantly effect the level seen by the water-stage recorder. As with all USGS stations, flow is determined by developing a relationship between water level and discharge. Since the pool is periodically drained for cleaning, there are times when the gage height is not in direct relation to discharge. Some of the precipitous drops and sudden peaks in the chart reflect pool operations, not changes in flow rate. For the latest real-time measurements, visit the USGS page for Barton Springs. For additional information on Barton Springs visit the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District.
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A view into the natural limestone depths from which Main Spring emerges. |
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The upper dam is visible in this view of the upstream portion of the swimming pool. The dam diverts stormwater flows around the pool. |
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This section of Barton Creek just below the swimming pool is a favorite dog park. Notice the discharge of Main Spring from the center of the dam. |
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When this photo
was taken in the early 1990s, the lower dam was being rebuilt and all
the flow from Main Spring was being routed through this
gate, which is normally the bypass channel for Upper Spring and Barton Creek. So this represents the discharge of both Main Spring and Upper Spring. Below the inner tube, note the grasping hands of a
swimmer submerged and prone in the cool discharge. |
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Built by Andrew Zilker in the early 1900s and located on the
banks next to the main swimming hole pictured above. It used to be a swimming pool but is now reserved for salamanders and other native aquatic plants and animals. Photo taken around 1991. |
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A view of Eliza Spring taken in July of 2008. |
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Part of it says:
Clear and icy, these springs over the years have drawn Indians, pioneers, and tourists to this spot. The waters are brought from limestone strata to the surface by the Balcones Fault, which bisects central Texas. Average flow is 27,000,000 gallons per day. |
Compared to other Edwards springs like San Pedro and San Marcos, there are not too many Barton Springs postcards out there.
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A really fabulous Sauter & Kuehne card mailed in 1910. On the back Miss Paula Tucker wrote to Nita:
Have been here two weeks. It is so warm here that one can scarcely live. |
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A very rare Real Photo postcard of the Barton Springs pool. Kodak introduced the Real Photo postcard in 1906, and for the first time anyone could have cards made of any photo they took. They were usually produced in very limited numbers. Judging from the white border around the edge, this card can be roughly dated to between 1915 and 1930. The "white border" style of card was predominant during those years and faded out in the early 30s, when linen cards printed to the edge became the predominant style. |
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A nice Art-Colortone card made by Curt Teich. The white border on linen stock represents a transition between the two styles. Card collectors have compiled a guide for dating Teich cards, and this one was produced in 1932. The caption on the back says:
Austin is justly proud of this beautiful municipal resort with artistic landscaping, pavilion and a swimming pool fed by springs that flow over 12,000,000 gallons of pure, crystal clear water daily. |
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This Curt Teich card from 1940 shows the second bath house that was built at the Springs, which was completed in 1922. It was a two-story pavillion with a dance hall upstairs and dressing rooms downstairs, and people recall it as quite romantic, with wood paneling and open-air screens (texasescapes.com, 2010). The first bath house was just four walls open to the sky and is reported to have been in use as early as 1884. |
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The third and current version of the bath house is this one completed in 1947. I am dating the card to 1947 because the caption on the back mentions the bath house as being new. |
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Do you remember when the Capitol was the tallest building in Austin? In the 60s and 70s the view of downtown Austin from Barton Springs was very different from today... |
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