After leak repairs, Barton Springs reopens weeks earlier than expected

In a piece of good news – especially as recent sweltering temperatures have confirmed that summer doesn’t end till late September – Barton Springs is set to reopen today, on a Thursday, no less.

During weekly pool maintenance Aug. 29, Parks and Recreation Department staff discovered leaks – caused by a hole that had grown to be 2 feet long and a foot wide, as well as a smaller hole – in an abandoned skimmer pipe. The pipe was originally installed in the 1940s and served as a bypass keeping stormwater out of the pool. In the 1990s, it was rerouted and repurposed, with most of it taken out of use, though today the rerouted portion remains in use. In a press release Sept. 6, the city wrote, “It runs from the shallow end to the bypass tunnel underneath the sidewalk on the bathhouse side of the pool and helps to circulate water in the shallow end.”

The pool was initially forecast to remain closed for weeks, with no definite schedule for reopening. Parks and Recreation staff wrote in a press release that “a strong suction force is drawing water into the pipe and could trap a swimmer underwater, posing a serious safety risk … up to and including loss of life,” necessitating the pool’s closure.

Luckily, the city of Austin’s PARD, Austin Water and the Watershed Protection Department collaborated on the repairs, filling the holes with gravel under Barton Springs, and concrete under the free side known as Barking Springs. The city noted in a press release that the repair plan, though executed more quickly than expected, included input on how best to avoid damaging the fragile ecosystem Barton Springs houses. It “was designed and implemented to avoid disruptions to the endangered salamanders. To protect the salamanders, staff limited the size and duration of any drawdown of the pool. Salamander biologists were present during construction to monitor for any water level changes in the pool.”  

After conducting the repairs, city staff restored the site for public use by installing sod on the south side of the lawn, conducting routine pool and tree maintenance and repainting safety signs. Some sections of the lawn will remain roped off to allow grass time to grow. In order to reopen as quickly as possible, the pool’s weekly cleaning was scheduled for Wednesday instead of Thursday, its usual closure day. 

Barton being reopened at 5 a.m. daily also means that Deep Eddy Pool, which had taken up the mantle of early swim for dedicated poolgoers, will resume normal operating hours today, opening at 8 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. Austinites will surely need both options for respite from the brutal heat, as the forecast doesn’t dip below the 90s for the next week.

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.