watershed – Pedernales River Alliance

Recently, I saw a phrase on a t-shirt: Save it, Don’t Pave it! (https://aquiferalliance.org). The Aquifer Alliance is attempting to raise awareness of how detrimental concrete can be to the Edwards Aquifer.

We here in Gillespie County need your help with our own aquifer, the Ellenburger Aquifer, which provides most of the drinking water for Gillespie County. It is in trouble. Recently, a Hill Country Critical Groundwater Depletion Area 1 was declared for the Ellenburger. The drought and normal usage of water has reduced the aquifer’s levels to a point where we must all take efforts to cutback our water usage.

But it rained! And we expect more!! But if there is one thing we all know, the weather is not consistent. Just when you think rain is coming, it doesn’t. Just when you think it will be cooler, it won’t be. The only thing we know with certainty about the weather seems to be that it seems to have a mind of its own. This means we should all consider how best to make cutbacks to our water usage permanent.

One way is to not put down concrete. For years, we have been paving parking lots, walkways and driveways using caliche topped with crushed granite. This construction allows for rainwater to soak into the ground. When water soaks into the ground, it has a much better chance of recharging our aquifer. Concrete, on the other hand, just helps to create runoff which is, by definition, pollution.

Water that falls on lawns tends to run off to roads carrying excess fertilizer and even dog poo. The runoff hits concrete roads and picks up oils, residue from tires, dirt, debris, trash and more. Short or light rains do not always push this runoff down to the river but a frog floater (colloquial term for a whole lot of rain at one time) will. When a lot of water from a heavy rain hits the seasonal creek beds, everything, including the now concentrated pollution, goes downstream to the Pedernales River.

I watch the river and see people fishing, wading, swimming and kayaking in it. Even when you think the River is too low for these activities, folks find a low water crossing and they play in the Pedernales…and, if we’ve had a recent frog floater, they unknowingly play in the polluted water.

More importantly, when you understand that all water in the Hill Country is connected–streams, creeks, river, springs and aquifers, then you know that any pollution anywhere in the Pedernales Watershed is too much. (See “The Journey of Groundwater” https://youtu.be/52Ln-LBr5ZU)

We all need to conserve water in any and every way that we are able for the benefit of all. If you are building a new home or business or upgrading your own property, please put in a permeable surface for your parking areas, walkways and patios. Save it, Don’t pave it!

Deborah Youngblood
Pedernales River Alliance
https://pedernalesriveralliance.org

A watershed is a system, land that drains rain and melting snow to creeks and then rivers and eventually, the ocean. Most of us here in Gillespie County live in the Pedernales River Watershed. Near the headwaters of the Pedernales are two areas of land where water drains to a creek and each land area draining to each creek is a watershed. One creek is called the Klein Branch and the other is called the Banta Branch. These two creeks join together and become the Pedernales River. As the Pedernales River flows eastward, there are many more creeks that feed into it. Each of these creeks is a sub-watershed of the Pedernales River Watershed.

The Pedernales River Watershed extends into Blanco County and then on to Travis County, where you will find the mouth of the river at Lake Travis which was formed by damming the Colorado River. The Pedernales River is a sub-watershed of the Colorado River.

Now, pull out a map and trace along the route of the Pedernales River and you can easily see how many communities depend upon this river for water. Ultimately, even Austin depends, in part, upon our River as does a state park, an LCRA park, a national park and numerous county and private parks. These are very good reasons for keeping our River clean.

The kinds of things that can adversely affect our River’s water quality include runoff, littering, excess fertilizer, and malfunctioning sewage systems.

Fast flow of water draining to Grape Creek

Runoff includes sediment. Who knew dirt could be a form of pollution? Weird but true. When dirt is washed into the river from large construction sites, it’s just too much of a good thing.

Littering is an easily preventable source of pollution – just don’t do it! And even if you did not, go ahead and pick it up anyway. That’s called being a good citizen. Litter can get into drainage systems and ultimately affect the health of the river.

Excess fertilizer can wash out of your yard, into the drainage system, into the creek and on to the river. It can wash out of farms, too. This is called non-point pollution because we cannot always pinpoint where it comes from but you can be sure that when the river is choked with thick, green algae, fertilizer might just be the source. The solution? Plant native plants that love the sandy loam and clay soil around here and you won’t have to fertilize. Put in native grasses instead of turf grasses that need to be fertilized and watered to be pretty.

Baron's Creek below the Sewage Treatment Facility Outfall — Baron’s Creek below the Sewage Treatment Facility Outfall

A big source of pollution is malfunctioning sewage systems. Reality check, we need our septic tanks! But we CAN make sure they are working correctly. If the grass over your septic tank and drain field is nice and green, your septic system may be leaking. A septic system’s drain field that is working properly usually looks pretty rough. Investigate to find out what is making your grass so unexpectedly and beautifully green.

Another source of pollution comes from treated wastewater. Sewage treatment facilities clean sewage and then release the cleaned water into creeks and rivers. The only problem with that is a huge problem: the water contains phospates and nitrogen, the same nutrients in fertilizer. Algae love it and a creek of river contaminated with treated wastewater will become clogged with green algae in short order. The correction to this is to clean wastewater to make it potable or to use the treated wastewater to water golf courses, lawns, and other non-food sources.

Bottom line, the Pedernales River watershed is a system that includes you. Doing your part to keep the Pedernales River Watershed clean will help keep our River clean.

Tag: watershed

Let’s “Save it, Don’t Pave it!”

What’s a Watershed?