Hosting more than 1.3 million visitors a year, Zilker Park is perhaps the most iconic and beloved public space in Austin. Founded in 1917 with a land donation from Andrew Jackson Zilker, Zilker is the city’s oldest metropolitan park. Eighty years later in 1997, the park was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The […]
Barton Springs Salamander
The Barton Springs Salamander is an endangered, lungless salamander that lives in Barton Springs. It was put on the List of Endangered Species in 1997.
Posted inParks
Salamanders key as city considers improvements at Barton Springs
A variety of improvements totaling millions of dollars for the area around Barton Springs will move slowly forward in 2019 and 2020, with the protection of the endangered Barton Springs salamander as the primary consideration of city staff. At a combined meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board and the Environmental Commission on Tuesday, members […]
Posted inCourts
Two environmental groups plan to sue TxDOT
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Save Our Springs Alliance have notified the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration that they intend to file suit against the agencies for approving the so-called MoPac Intersections project without consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees protection of endangered species. According […]
Posted inEnvironment
Staff seeking OK to fix Eliza Spring
Members of the city’s Watershed Protection and Parks and Recreation departments have been planning improvements for Eliza Spring in Zilker Park since at least 2012. The spring, which is home to the largest concentration of the endangered Barton Springs salamander as well as to Austin blind salamanders, is recognizable to visitors because of the historic […]
Posted inPreservation, Resources, Water
Downward oxygen trend a risk for salamanders
Barton Springs is the only known home to the endangered and federally protected Barton Springs and Austin Blind salamanders. Unfortunately, for these unique creatures, the level of life-sustaining dissolved oxygen in their ecosystem has dropped on average over the past 35 years. Watershed Protection Department engineer Abel Porras brought the issue to the Wednesday meeting […]
Posted inAustin, Environment
Watershed Protection outlines salamander plan
Watershed Protection Department staff dived into the details of the city’s Habitat Management Plan on Wednesday. The plan will protect the Barton Springs salamander and the Austin blind salamander, two federally endangered species known to live exclusively in Barton Springs. Watershed Protection salamander biologist Tom Devitt told the Environmental Board that the plan includes a […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local Government, Resources
Aquifer district finishes Habitat Conservation Plan
After a decade of research, public input and development, the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is sending its completed draft Habitat Conservation Plan, approved last month, to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for approval. The aquifer district board’s recent approval of the plan brings a complex process begun in 2004 to an end. […]
Posted inEnvironment
Aquifer District ramping up for Habitat Conservation Plan
A decade in the making, the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is making progress on a Habitat Conservation Plan aimed at mitigating groundwater-pumping effects on endangered salamanders. The ultimate goal of the plan is to acquire a federal Incidental Take Permit – a risk reduction measure protecting the district and its well permittees from potential […]