What is unique about the Edwards Aquifer?
The Edwards Aquifer is a unique groundwater system and one of the most prolific artesian aquifers in the world. It is one of the greatest natural resources on Earth, serving the diverse agricultural, industrial, recreational, and domestic needs of almost two million users in south central Texas.
Who manages the Edwards Aquifer?
The Edwards Aquifer Authority was created on May 30, 1993. More than 20 years later, the EAA is by all accounts, a success story. The EAA’s mission is not over. One way the EAA and the City of San Antonio are preserving the aquifer for future generations is through conservation easements.
Why is the Edwards Aquifer important?
The Edwards Aquifer is one of the most valuable water resources in the central Texas area. This aquifer provides water for municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses. A number of cities rely on the aquifer as their only source of drinking water.
What is the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program?
What is an Edwards Aquifer protection plan? An Edwards Aquifer protection plan (EAPP) outlines the best management practices that will be implemented and maintained, both during and after construction activities, to prevent contaminants found in storm water from reaching the Edwards Aquifer.
How old is the Edwards Aquifer?
To understand the formation of the Edwards Aquifer, we must first go back 105 million years – to the Age of Dinosaurs. At that time, the region was covered by a shallow sea.
How long has the Edwards Aquifer supported civilization?
The Edwards Aquifer, a large underground limestone cavern, has supported civilization for more than 12,000 years and today it is the primary source of water for about 1.7 million people.
Where is the Edwards Aquifer found and why is it so important to the city of San Antonio?
It stretches across thousands of acres over several counties in South Central Texas. Roughly 70 percent of San Antonio’s drinking water originates as recharge occurring west of Bexar County. Rainfall enters the aquifer through fractures, caves, sinkholes and other features and replenishes the aquifer.
How long will the Edwards Aquifer last?
As long as enough hydraulic pressure exists to force water up of the level of springs, significant amounts of water will flow out. In a 3-5 year drought, all the water that was recharged during wet times will have left the Aquifer.
Who is the Edwards Aquifer named after?
Hayden Edwards
Edwards County was named for Hayden Edwards, one of the original settlers in Nacogdoches in East Texas. The word aquifer means a body of permeable rock that can contain or transmit groundwater. Put It together – We get The Edwards Aquifer.
Is Edwards Aquifer deep?
The Edwards Aquifer is an underground layer of porous, honeycombed, water-bearing rock that is between 300-700 feet thick.
Is Edwards Aquifer clean?
Users of the Edwards Aquifer are lucky because no major water quality or pollution problems have been experienced YET. In San Antonio there is little heavy industry and not much potential for serious degradation.
Can you swim in Edwards Aquifer?
Austin’s location on the Edwards Aquifer and Colorado River make it ideal for the formation of swimming holes. Texas Parks and Wildlife calls Barton Springs the best urban swimming hole in the world. Barton Springs sits within a lush oasis of live oak trees, and the water stays around 60 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.
What will the Edwards Aquifer Authority do in 20 years?
The Edwards Aquifer Authority spent its first 20 years growing up, assessing the situation, gathering data, establishing baselines, figuring out how to manage the resource while fighting negative public perception with information. The next 20 years will be just as tough.
How are water levels measured at the Edwards Aquifer?
Water level data are critical for EAA’s management of the San Antonio Pool and the Uvalde Pool of the Edwards Aquifer. Water levels are measured around the clock using different devices monitoring wells throughout the aquifer.
Is pumping more water from the Edwards Aquifer still an option?
Some of the fastest growing counties in the United States sit atop the Edwards Aquifer, but pumping even more water from the Edwards is no longer an option with EAA oversight.
What happened to the Ogallala Aquifer?
The Ogallala Aquifer, which extends north from the Texas Panhandle into South Dakota and Wyoming, and is responsible for 40 percent of Texas’ water supply, was a poster child of overuse.