Watershed Facts

• The Barton Creek watershed is over three times the size of all other watersheds draining into Town Lake.
• The city's longest greenbelt trail system is located along Barton Creek.
• There are 60 springs and 20 caves in the Barton Creek Watershed.
  Barton Springs is the major discharge point for the Edward's Aquifer and habitat for the Barton Springs salamander, a protected endangered species.
• Barton Creek is often used as a comparison creek for other watersheds because it has the least development (11%) and ecological impairment.
• Eight square miles of the watershed are in the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone where water travels through caves and sinkholes to "recharge" the aquifer; another 112 square miles are in the contributing zone, where water travels over land to the creeks of the recharge zone.
• City staff finds limited baseflow at most monitoring sites along Barton Creek
• For More information on Barton Creek, look at the Barton Creek Report
  

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Creek Assessments
Environmental

• Conservation easements and acquisitions preserving undeveloped land will contribute to protection of current water quality.
• Portions of Barton Creek are on the State Water Quality Inventory as being of concern for depressed dissolved oxygen and contaminants in sediment.
  

Environmental scores are based on a full range of chemical, biological, and physical assessments.

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Photo Gallery
Barton Creek at Lost Creek Blvd.	Barton Creek at Shield Ranch

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