Currently, 23,577 acres of land are managed as WQPL, 9,050 acres owned by the City of Austin and 14,527 acres managed with conservation easements.

Watershed Characteristics:

Bull Creek

• 2/3 juniper woodland of varying ages

• Remaining either cliff habitat or savanna

• Moderate to severe erosion

• Mostly intact riparian community

• Poor GCW habitat

Upper Barton Creek

• 1/3 savanna

• 1/3 savanna moving to woodland

• 1/3 oak-juniper woodland

• Low to moderate erosion

• Good to excellent GCW habitat

Lower Barton Creek

• 1/3 quickly moving from savanna to woodland

• 2/3 oak-juniper woodland

• Moderate to extreme erosion

• Riparian community mostly intact

• Excellent GCW habitat, numerous GCW observed

Slaughter Creek

• Primarily open oak savannah with some closed oak-juniper woodland and open old fields.

• Low to severe erosion.

• Degraded riparian community.

• Poor GCW habitat.

• Half in contributing and half in recharge zone.

Upper Bear Creek

• Primary savanna transitioning to juniper and mesquite woodland

• History of overgrazing

• Healthy diverse riparian community

• Low to moderate erosion

• Poor GCW habitat

• Numerous karst features

Lower Bear Creek

• 1/3 young juniper woodland

• 1/3 persimmon and mountain laurel

• 1/3 open savanna

• Numerous karst features

• Low to moderate erosion

• Poor GCW habitat, 1 GCW observed

Onion Creek

• Full vegetation and GCW inventory not yet completed

• Riparian community not healthy

• Primarily an oak-juniper savanna with some mesquite invasion

• Significant evidence of past overgrazing

• Moderate erosion

• Significant karst features