Prescribed burns in Southwest Austin this week

If you see smoke around South State Highway 45 and MoPac Expressway on Thursday, don’t be alarmed. It’s just Austin Water’s Wildland Conservation Division conducting a prescribed burn on up to 80 acres of Water Quality Protection Lands. It’s a strategy the department, which manages 30,000 acres in order to benefit the Edwards Aquifer, uses to protect Central Texas groundwater. Planned burns “improve the resiliency of our land when they are used as a planned seasonal management tool,” Austin Water said. The burns reduce area brush, promote grasslands and increases biodiversity. Austin Water staff will be joined by county fire departments, as well as federal, state and local land management agencies to ensure everyone remains safe.