Land management encompasses a wide variety of activities ranging from land treatments to managing boundaries and fences for access. Overall management of WQPL properties is guided by a Land Management Plan (LMP) approved in 2001. It was developed by a Land Management Planning Group hired by the City of Austin in 1999 to conduct a wide range of natural resource inventories, oversee an involved public stakeholder process, develop a GIS database, and recommend site-specific land management. The LMP was submitted to the Water/Wastewater Commission in May of 2001. As properties are added to the City's WQPL holdings, addendums to the LMP will be written for them.

Property ownership
The Water Quality Protection Lands (WQPL) program manages a total of 23,577 acres- 9,050 acres (38%) as fee simple and 14,527 acres (62%) as conservation easements. Fee simple land is owned wholly by the City of Austin and staff is responsible for its day-to-day management. These are lands staff visits on a weekly if not daily basis, continually implementing management actions and assessing their effectiveness.

Conservation easements, however, are a mechanism for the City of Austin to ensure conservation of key properties without incurring the expense of day-to-day management. An easement agreement is created between the private landowner, who may reside on the property, and the City that specifies in perpetuity how the land will be managed and what activities may occur on it. The City, in effect, purchases an interest in the property that includes most of the development rights to the property. These agreements may follow the same format but are specific to each property. Annual easement reviews are conducted by staff and involve site visits and discussions with the landowner, and re-taking of photo points every other year, for documentation and analysis.

Organization of Property
Full fee, or fee simple, properties can be grouped into five watersheds along Bull Creek, Barton Creek, Slaughter Creek, Bear Creek, and Onion Creek. Three of the watersheds, Bear, Barton and Slaughter, have non-contiguous properties. Those for Bear and Barton creeks are separated into "Upper" and "Lower" portions based on their north/south location in the watershed, creating a total of seven Management Units. Each Management Unit is further divided into subunits based on their type of ecosystem (riparian versus upland), natural barriers, or management needs.

Techniques
Prior to purchase by the City, these properties have experienced a variety of uses, ranging from unexpected (a commune) to more typical (ranching), that all leave their marks on the land. Previous landowners may have chained the land (a particularly harsh technique of dragging a very large, heavy chain between two bulldozers to remove all trees), introduced exotic grasses, introduced exotic wildlife, removed shrubs and trees near creeks for easier livestock access, created trash dumps, and many other activities. The challenge for staff is to combine the guidelines set forth in the management plan with their assessment of the state of a property and their knowledge and expertise on management techniques to develop restoration strategies that will ultimately optimize aquifer recharge. For many properties, restoration of upland areas is toward an oak-juniper savannah (grassland) with an emphasis on native grasses that encourage infiltration of rainfall and hold soil in place. Riparian areas, however, may be denuded and need restoration of riparian forests in floodplains to minimize erosion and restore property functioning floodplains.

Various techniques are employed to attain the management goals for each management unit and smaller subunits within it. Opening up areas to encourage native grass growth may involve mechanical removal of encroaching Ashe juniper trees and application of prescribed fire. Spreading seed for native grasses either with equipment or by hand with volunteers helps quicken the spread of desired natives. Invasive and non-native species of woody and herbaceous plants are removed, preferably without chemical treatment though that option may be employed (and always by licensed staff). Collecting seed from native riparian plants and planting the germinated seedlings back along denuded sections of creek helps minimize erosion and can improve the water quality within the creek.