Cedar Creek Reservoir
NAVA RRO
HILL
BOS QU E
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STERLING
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T E X A S
Waco
McLENNAN
Lake Waco
San Angelo
San Angelo
Lake
UPTON
US
C OM AN C H E
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163
GLASS COCK
A ND E RS O N
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28
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MILLS
O.H. Ivie Reservoir
Colora
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Horseshoe Park at San Felipe Springs. Popular swimming hole providing relief from hot Texas summers.
do Riv
er
US
REAGAN
Photo courtesy of Gregg Eckhardt.
HW
7
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18
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3
HW
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US HWY 87
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HW
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WY
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80
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HW
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The endangered Black-Capped Vireo (Vireo atricapillus) is a small, migratory
songbird that nests in Hill Country scrub every spring and summer. Photo © John Ingram.
Ri
US
er
Riv
Frio
Choke Canyon
Reservoir
BE E
Springs
L a S AL L E
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r
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37
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Carrizo Springs
Scale: 1 inch equals approx. 15 miles
HW
K AR N E S
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Ri
FRIO
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US
HW
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ran
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US
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DEWITT
Recharge Zone of the Southern Edwards Aquifer
Caves
F O RT B E ND
GON Z AL E S
BE X AR
ek
Nu
Contributing Zone of the Northern Edwards Aquifer
Contributing Zone of the Southern Edwards Aquifer
r
CO
L ODarters
RA D
O
Fountain
(Etheostoma
fonticola). Endangered species that lives only in San Marcos Springs
W I L S ON
US HW
Y 27 7
Ri
ve
McMULLEN
HW
Y
59
LIVE
OAK
CA L HO UN
R E F U GI O
Freshwater flows from the Edwards Aquifer sustain many of our most
important estuary species, including the endangered Whooping Crane.
Photo © John Ingram.
1
15
30
45
WA L L E R
Medina River
US
Eagle Pass
os
Ri
ve
r
ad
o
Seguin
Leona Springs
MAVER IC K
Contributing Zone of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer
FAYE T TE
C AL DW E L L
M
ar
c
lor
and Comal Springs. Photo courtesy of Dr. Glenn Longley.
Recharge Zone of the Northern Edwards Aquifer
Recharge Zone of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer
Sa
n
Comal Springs
Cre
Uvalde
Artesian Zone of the Edwards Aquifer
AUS T I N
New
Braunfels
San Antonio Springs
r
ive
io R
ton
An
San
Brackettville
Somerville Lake
WA S HI NG TO N
Co
4
San Pedro Springs
US HWY 90
San Marcos Springs
Hueco Springs
Bracken Bat Cave
O
LO
BASTROP
San Marcos
Cibolo Creek
Ped
90
Las Moras
Springs
Wonder Cave
Cascade Caverns
San
US H
WY
Del Rio
L E G E N D
er
Riv
Frio
MEXICO
Frio Bat Cave
K INNEY
Concan
Canyon Lake
Natural Bridge Caverns
Bandera
er
al Riv
Sabin
Camp Wood
San Felipe
Springs
LEE
21
Bastrop
ree Wimberley
k
Guadalupe Riv
er
HWY
46
Boerne
UVALDE
pre
ss
C
Jacob’s Well
Cave Without A Name
EDWAR DS
Amistad Reservoir
Cy
K E N DAL L
Kerrville
Texas Blind Salamander (Eurycea rathbuni). Endangered species that lives only
in the Southern Edwards Aquifer. Photo courtesy of Edwards Aquifer Authority.
Goodenough
Springs
H AYS
Blanco River
R EAL
Seminole Canyon
State Park
Y
Dripping Springs
Blanco
Y 5
5
Rocksprings
HW
Johnson
City
HW
US HWY 290
US HWY 377
Rio Grande River
Austin
Barton Springs
Fredericksburg
Rive
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KERR
US HWY 83
Y 9
0
G RI ME S
US
Brazos River
HW
vil
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BURLESON
T R AVI S
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BL AN C O
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Lake
Travis
95
ales
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79
US HW Y
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US HW
63
Y 1
Pede
rn
Pe
Georgetown
er
HW
HW
US HWY 290
l Riv
US
US
K I M BL E
SUT T ON
abrie
Lake Lyndon
B. Johnson
GI L L E S P I E
BRAZOS
Inner Space Caverns
Junction
TERRELL
an G
Longhorn Cavern
Eckert James River Bat Cave
Caverns
of Sonora
er
W I L L I AM S ON
S. S
L L AN O
Sonora
CROCKETT
l Riv
Llano
Llano River
Gabr
ie
Burnet
Y 2
81
Y
71
TX HWY 29
Salado
Springs
HW
US HW Y 83
US
HW
Y
N. S
an
iver
PECOS
Lake
Buchanan
R
sota
Nava
Mason
HW
83
Y 1
MENARD
TX
M AS ON
HW
SC HLEIC HER
TX HWY 29
MA D I S O N
MI L A M
US
Couple enjoying the historic mill at Barton Springs in 1902.
ROBERTSON
Salado
BU R N E T
US HWY 190
Photo courtesy of Center for American History, University of Texas.
Stillhouse
Hollow
Lake
S AN S ABA
r
ive
aR
Sab
San
Temple
BE L L
60
Postcard showing horse-drawn wagons crossing the San Antonio River, which no longer flows naturally.
Water is now pumped out of the Edwards Aquifer to recreate stream flow.
Photo courtesy of University of Houston library.
G U I D E T O A P P R E C I AT I O N A N D C O N S E RVAT I O N O F T H E
This eco-tour guide to the
heart of Texas – the Greater
Edwards Aquifer Ecosystem –
provides an introduction to
the Texas Hill Country. We
invite you to explore the region and its many clear running
streams, scenic vistas, cold springs, show caves and bat
caves, big cities and small ranching communities, and
parks and preserves. Along the way we hope you will gain
a better understanding of and appreciation for our natural
and cultural heritage.
© Austin History Center
San Pedro Springs – Located a short distance north of downtown San Antonio, San Pedro Springs emerge in San Pedro
Park, the second oldest public park in the United States (next
to Boston Commons). San Pedro and San Antonio
Springs emerge at relatively high elevations in the Edwards Aquifer and
have suffered drastically
reduced flow due to heavy
pumping by cities and
farmers in the southern
Edwards region.
Known as “Great
Springs,” these springs
nourished native
peoples for thousands of years.
Beginning in the
Leona Springs – This
early 1700s, European
large group of springs is
immigrants settled
the source of the Leona
around the Great Springs,
River and supported the
Landa Flour Mills, New Braunfels, Sept. 26, 1916
utilizing their flows for milling,
development of the town of Uvalde.
© 2000, Center for American History
irrigation, fishing, drinking, recreation,
Las Moras Springs – Emerging at Brackettville
and religious purposes. In the following 300 years, the
in Kinney County, these Springs are also known as Fort Clark
Great Springs sustained the development of all of the major
Springs; they are the 11th largest in Texas and emerge in a
cities in central and south central Texas. From northeast to
swimming pool shared by the surrounding residents.
southwest, the largest of the Great Springs of the Edwards
Aquifer are:
San Felipe Springs – Fed by the Edwards and other limestone
formations, Texas’ 4th largest springs provide the water supply
Salado Springs – The historic Stagecoach Inn, on the east
for the City of Del Rio. Emerging just north of Highway 90,
side of Interstate 35 at Salado, was located just above
San Felipe Creek flows 24 miles to the Rio Grande.
Salado Springs, the 12th largest in Texas. Salado Springs
are the major outflows from the northern segment of the
Goodenough Springs – Historically Texas’ 3rd largest, these
Edwards Aquifer.
springs are now covered by Amistad Reservoir on the Rio
Grande. Fed by Edwards-associated limestones and other
Barton Springs – Texas’ capital city was located on the
formations, the pressure head from the reservoir has reduced
banks of the Colorado River in part because of the reliable
flow considerably.
and abundant flows of Barton Springs, the 5th largest in
the state. Located in Austin’s Zilker Park, Barton Springs
These Great Springs, and the patterns of settlement which
Pool is open for swimming all year, with free swimming in
they engendered, have been shaped by forces more than 100
winter months.
million years old, from a time when the sea covered almost all
San Marcos Springs – The San Marcos Springs are the
2nd largest in Texas. The San Marcos River begins at the
springs on the campus of Texas State University and flows
through the City of San Marcos park system. The river is
popular for snorkeling, diving, inner tubing, canoeing,
kayaking and swimming.
Hueco Springs – Hueco Springs, the state’s 7th largest,
flow into the Guadalupe River at the well-known Hueco
Falls rapid, 3.5 miles upstream of Gruene, the inner-tubing
capital of Texas.
T H E
H I D D E N
COWHOUSE
Over time, the forces of erosion carved what we recognize as the
flat-top, stair-stepped Hill Country out of the uplifted limestone of
the Edwards Plateau. Millions of years of slightly acidic rain percolated down through the faulted and fractured limestone, dissolving
the rock and creating spaces that hold and convey water. These
spaces range from tiny “honeycomb” pores to large caverns. Many
of the largest of these caves are now open for touring and are listed
in the box at right.
BRADY
Nature has divided the aquifer
into three segments. The
Northern Edwards Aquifer is
isolated north of the Colorado
River basin, reaching from
central Travis County up to
southern Bell County. The
Barton Springs segment falls
immediately south of the
Colorado, in southwest Travis
and northern Hays counties.
Except for pumping that supplies
Sinkhole in Onion Creek
approximately 50,000 people
with water, almost 90 percent of water flows in this segment emerge
at Barton Springs. The Southern, or San Antonio, segment begins
near Buda and is roughly one hundred times larger than the Barton
Springs segment. It feeds all of the other Great Springs of the
Edwards, from San Marcos to Del Rio, and is the sole source of
drinking water for more than 1.5 million people.
Tracing the path of rainfall as it flows through three distinct zones
found in each of the three Edwards Aquifer segments, it first falls
in the upstream areas known as the contributing zones or drainage
area (shaded light purple on the map). There it collects in draws,
small streams and then larger creeks and rivers, which generally
flow to the south and east toward the Gulf of Mexico. When these
waterways cross onto the Balcones Fault zone – known as the
recharge zone – water plunges down through sinkholes, caves, and
fractures into the porous Edwards formation. Once underground,
the water then flows through the aquifer along the major fault
lines toward the Great Springs.
H E A R T
O F
The hidden heart of Texas – the
Edwards Aquifer Ecosystem –
provides the essential life source
for the people and wildlife of the
Texas Hill Country, from Salado
to Del Rio. Prolific, fragile, and
mysterious, the Aquifer, its
contributing watersheds and its
Great Springs supply drinking
water for more than 1.5 million
people, support recreation for
millions of Texans and tourists
alike, and provide habitat for
more than 60 species of plants
and animals that live here and
Many of the plants and animals unique to the Hill Country are
listed as “threatened” or “endangered” by the U.S Fish & Wildlife
Service because they have extremely limited ranges which are
being destroyed by rapid urbanization, urban runoff pollution,
and/or excessive water withdrawals. The threat of extinction
to sensitive fish, salamanders and other species that live in the
Edwards Aquifer and its Great Springs is particularly acute.
Conservation measures that will sustain these endangered species
will assure that the Aquifer and Springs are sustained for human
use and enjoyment as well.
Golden-Cheeked Warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia)
T E X A S
$3.00
BLANCO
MEDINA
HONDO AND
SECO
Natural Bridge Caverns. Near New Braunfels off IH-35, Natural Bridge Caverns is the largest Texas show cave and
one of the most impressive because of its size and beauty. The cave has massive formations, including totem poles, fried
eggs, stalagmites, and a flowstone floor. www.naturalbridgecaverns.com.
Wonder Cave. In San Marcos off IH-35, Wonder Cave is unusual in that it is formed along a fault in the Balcones
Fault Zone. The cave is historic in that it is the smallest and oldest continuously operating of the seven show caves in
Texas and is now part of the Wonder World theme park. www.wonderworldpark.com.
GUADALUPE
CIBOLO
Bracken Bat Cave. Just outside San Antonio, off IH-35 near Garden Ridge, Bracken Cave is home to the world’s
largest bat colony. Each year, some 20 million Mexican Free-tailed bats gather there to give birth and rear their young.
Their emergence from the cave each evening is one of the most spectacular sights in nature.
You can see this breathtaking bat colony by becoming a member with Bat Conservation
International. www.batcon.org/discover/bracken.html.
LOWER
GUADALUPE
ATASCOSA
LOWER
SAN ANTONIO
WAT E R S H E D S
in the Edwards Aquifer Region
Frio Bat Cave. South of Concan, the Frio Bat Cave houses the 2nd largest Mexican
Free-tailed bat population in Texas. There are 2,000 feet of cave, with an estimated
10 million bats. The interpretive tour guide will share his knowledge about bats and the
history of the cave dating back to the Civil War. You can watch as hawks and falcons
catch bats for their evening meal. www.hillcountryadventures.com/sunset_bat_flight.htm.
Rivers
County Lines
0
10
20
40 MILES
Urge elected representatives to support funding for a largescale expansion of existing parks and preserves to protect the
Aquifer and preserve the rural heritage of the Hill Country.
Ask them to oppose “grandfathering” of projects that will
cause pollution or degrade Hill Country habitats.
A PLAN TO SAVE THE HEART OF TEXAS
The conservation groups that make up the Greater Edwards
Aquifer Alliance drafted a consensus action plan for saving the
water, wildlife, scenic beauty and cultural heritage of the Edwards
Aquifer region. The Edwards Aquifer Protection Plan is based on
sound science and sustainable economic development principles.
(A copy of the plan is posted at www.greateredwards.org.) The
Plan recognizes that absent bold action to reverse current growth
patterns and ever increasing consumption and pollution of water,
the Hill Country can be ruined within a few short years. The key
components of the Plan – ambitious but also practical and
necessary – are:
■ Direct development downstream. Public investment along the
Austin/San Antonio corridor should support development to
the east and downstream of the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
Well-managed, compact growth in less sensitive watersheds is
both fiscally responsible and environmentally sustainable.
Purchase parks, watershed preserves and conservation
easements. Local, state and federal governments should promptly
commit to directing at least $500 million to the purchase of parks,
watershed preserves and conservation lands over the Aquifer
recharge and contributing zones. By creating a regional system of
parks, preserves and conservation ranches, we can protect the
Edwards Aquifer, curb urban sprawl into the Hill Country and
provide much needed recreation lands for all Texans to enjoy.
This is less than a year of spending on highway construction in the
Hill Country region and about one-half of the corporate personal
property taxes that go uncollected in Texas every year. Florida and
California voters have together approved more than $10 billion in
recent years for purchase of parks and wildlife refuges, which
helped them qualify for large sums of matching federal dollars.
■
■ Protect
water quality. In 1997, 37 scientists, engineers, planners
and other experts endorsed “Protecting the Edwards Aquifer:
A Scientific Consensus,” a report documenting overwhelming
scientific agreement that the only reliable way to prevent pollution
© Gregg Eckhardt
UPPER
SAN
ANTONIO
LOWER
NUECES
■ “Not on our aquifer, not with our money.” This has been the
commonsense motto of San Antonio citizens who have recognized
since the late 1970s that the greatest threat to the Edwards Aquifer
was the expenditure of taxpayer funds to support development over
the aquifer recharge and contributing zones. We call for an end to
public expenditures and development subsidies of any kind (highway expansions, sewer extensions, fee waivers, loan guarantees, tax
abatements, creation of utility “designer districts,” etc.) for projects
located over or upstream of the Aquifer recharge zones. Hill Country
roadways should be maintained for safety and scenic beauty.
Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance
530 Donaldson
San Antonio, Texas 78201
www.greateredwards.org
© Don Anders
UPPER GUADALUPE
FRIO
NUECES
Longhorn Cavern. Between Burnet and Marble Falls off Hwy 281, Longhorn Cavern has few formations but lovely
wall sculpting and large calcite crystals. At different times the cave was a Comanche hideout, a black powder factory,
a dance hall, a restaurant, and a church. www.longhorncaverns.com.
LOWER
COLORADO
UPPER
NUECES
Mexican Freetail bats beginning their night flight from Bracken Bat Cave
Inner Space Cavern. In Georgetown off IH-35, Inner Space Cavern is a large, complex cave with many
beautiful formations and interesting displays of Pleistocene-age mammal bones. Visitors enter the
cave on a cable car ride and the trail is smooth and sloping, about 550 m (1,800 ft.) long. www.innerspace.com.
COLORADO/
BARTON/
ONION
PEDERNALES
NUECES
nowhere else on Earth. We
invite you to join with us –
the Greater Edwards Aquifer
Alliance – to learn the ways of
the heart of Texas and to take
action to sustain and preserve
the water, wildlife, scenic beauty
and cultural heritage of the
Edwards Aquifer and the Texas
Hill Country.
Comal River
SAN GABRIEL
LLANO
LLANO (SOUTH)
UNIQUE LIFE AT RISK
Distinct Hill Country plant communities are characterized by
mixed oak and ashe juniper woodlands, oak savannah and shinnery,
wildflowers, native grasses and riparian woodlands. Several
centuries of farming and ranching have altered the landscape, but
the ruggedness of the Hill Country has assured that many of the
native plants and animals have survived. For example, mature
oak and ashe juniper woodlands provide nesting habitat for the
endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler, a small migratory songbird
that is the only species of bird entirely native to Texas.
of what is now Texas. Over the eons, the calcium carbonate
shells of marine organisms that lived in this shallow sea
accumulated hundreds of feet thick, forming the Edwards,
Trinity and other associated limestones. The sea made its final
retreat 60 million years ago, and terrestrial life forms took over.
Then, 17 million years ago, the earth shifted, breaking and
lifting a large piece of this coastal plain 300 to 1,200 feet up
along what is now called the Balcones Fault zone. This line
of uplift – beginning north of Waco and arching south and
then west to near Del Rio – marks the boundary between the
LLANO (NORTH)
Photo by Allan Cobb
The contributing and recharge zones of the three Edwards Aquifer
segments, combined with the bisecting Colorado River watershed,
make up most of the Texas Hill Country. This region is blessed
with more than 60 species of plants and animals that live here and
nowhere else in the world. Blind salamanders, catfish, crustaceans,
and other “cave critters” have
evolved in isolated habitat
“islands” within the aquifer, in
the dry caves above the water
table, and at the springs. The
Barton Springs and Austin
Blind Salamanders live only at
Barton Springs, Texas Wild Rice
and the San Marcos gambusia
live only in the San Marcos
River, and the Texas Blind
Salamander is known only from
a few caves that reach into the
Southern Edwards Aquifer.
San Marcos Gambusia (Gambusia georgei)
Caverns of Sonora. Near Sonora off IH-10, Caverns
of Sonora is internationally recognized as one of the
most beautiful caves in the world. Its basic layout is a
complex 3-dimensional maze formed along a few parallel
or near-parallel fractures. Most of the passages are lined
with sparkling speleothems. www.cavernsofsonora.com.
LITTLE
A significant portion of the Edwards Aquifer – known as the
artesian zone and shown in green – rests below the surface, covered
by younger geologic formations. These overlying formations protect
the underlying aquifer from pollution at the surface. From the large
map you can see that most of San Antonio is built over the artesian
zone, allowing the city to drill its municipal wells directly down
into the aquifer. But the city is growing rapidly in the vulnerable
contributing and recharge zones, putting the aquifer, its unique
wildlife and springs, and the city’s own water supply at risk.
The Edwards is known as a karst aquifer, characterized by rapid,
open-channel water flow and by a thin to nonexistent soil cover.
Because of these physical factors, the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality has recognized since 1989 that the
Edwards Aquifer is more vulnerable to pollution than any other
major aquifer in Texas.
LAMPASAS
COLORADO
SAN SABA
© Edwards Aquifer Authority
Andy Grubbs swimming in the Valdina Farms Sinkhole
LEON
© Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District
The Edwards Aquifer is a mysterious maze of underground
rivers, chutes, and rivulets that provides the essential source
of life for most of the residents of Central and South Central
Texas. Most of the Edwards Aquifer is hidden to all but a
relatively few trained geologists, water engineers and cave
enthusiasts. However, many are familiar with its prolific
springs that emerge along the ragged edge of
the Hill Country.
San Antonio Springs – Historically the state’s 6th largest,
San Antonio Springs emerge on the campus of Incarnate
Word College in downtown San Antonio and flow through
Brackenridge Park. Spanish missionaries located here in 1718;
the City of San Antonio followed. Today, San Antonio is
the largest city in North America wholly dependent on
groundwater, and thus the future of the city depends on
sustainable management of the Edwards Aquifer.
Cave Without A Name. Located northeast of Boerne,
Cave Without A Name has a short trail but is a
wonderful cave. A staircase spirals down a pit and
opens into a 7-m-high by 12-m-wide passage decorated
with large speleothems. The trail ends after 186 m at
a large stream passage. www.cavewithoutaname.com.
UPPER COLORADO
Baptismal service at Barton Springs, 1925
Comal Springs – Emerging in New Braunfels’ historic Landa
Park, Comal Springs are the largest in Texas and the southwest United States. Landa Park’s spring-fed pool and the
Schlitterbahn water park a short distance downstream on
the Comal River are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of
Texans every year.
Cascade Caverns. Located between San Antonio and Boerne, Cascade Caverns’ tour follows the main 244-m-long
passage, which steadily enlarges until ending in a large room highlighted by the historic cave’s namesake – an impressive
waterfall. www.cascadecaverns.com.
BOSQUE
CONCHO
© Robert Edwards, UT Pan American
GETTING ORIENTED: The Great
Springs of the Edwards Aquifer
forested limestone Hill Country to the north and west and the
gently rolling Blackland Prairie and Texas Coastal Plain to the east
and south.
© Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District
GREATER EDWARDS AQUIFER ECOSYSTEM
© John Ingram
This guide is also a call to action. The heart of Texas is
under assault from urban sprawl. Unless concerned citizens
take action, the Hill Country will very soon be lost to land
fragmentation and road building, its streams and springs
polluted and pumped dry. We invite you to join the Greater
Edwards Aquifer Alliance and the thousands of concerned
Texans who are jumping in to save the heart of Texas.
Texas Show Caves
Texas has some unusually beautiful and interesting show caves to offer. Several other caves are now open to guided
“Wild Caving Tours.”
© Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International
XPLORE, ENJOY,
PROTECT!
of the Edwards Aquifer is to steer urban development to the east
and downstream of the recharge zone. Any development that is
allowed in the Edwards Aquifer watershed should be required to
limit impervious cover (roads, parking lots, buildings and any other
surface that prevents rainfall from percolating into the ground)
to no more than 10 or 15 percent of the developable land. Other
necessary measures include requiring development setbacks (or
“buffers”) from streams and recharge features; prohibiting commercial activities that generate or require significant quantities of
hazardous chemicals; and strictly limiting non-native, chemicaldemanding landscaping.
■ Conserve water. Water in the Edwards region is limited. Public
and private organizations and individuals need to make water
conservation and reuse (rather than expanded water diversions)
a top priority.
LEND A HAND
Only caring and active citizens can save the Edwards Aquifer and
the Great Springs of Texas. Please demonstrate your support for
saving the heart of Texas by making a tax-deductible donation to
the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance or to one of the Alliance’s
member groups.
There are many ways you, your family and your friends can help
save the heart of Texas. Learning about the Aquifer Ecosystem
is an important start. Familiarize yourself with the information
contained in this brochure map. Visit the Great Springs, take along
a mask and snorkel, and explore. Hike and camp (where allowed)
in the state and local parks. You’ll see first-hand that there are too
few of them, and that they’re too small.
Vote in the marketplace. Support businesses that support
protecting the Edwards Aquifer. Avoid those businesses that
demand taxpayer subsidies to develop in the Aquifer watershed or claim “grandfather” status to avoid compliance with
water and wildlife protection rules. If you are blessed with
personal wealth, consider buying a Hill Country ranch,
managing it for watershed and wildlife enhancement and
preserving it through a conservation easement. By linking
private “conservation ranching” with expanded public parks
and preserves, we can protect the water, wildlife and scenic
beauty of the Hill Country.
Wherever you live you can help conserve water and prevent
pollution by “living lightly on your watershed.” Key elements
of living lightly include:
■ Don’t use pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers
wherever possible. Learn about safer alternatives for
improving soil and reducing pests.
■ Landscape your lawn with native plants that use less water
and need no chemical additives to thrive.
■ Don’t bag your leaves and lawn clippings and ship them to
a landfill. Leave them on the lawn or compost them.
■ Use non-toxic household cleaners and store all household
chemicals out of the elements in watertight containers.
Dispose of household chemicals and other hazardous
materials properly.
■ Keep vehicles in good repair and under covered parking,
if possible, so fluid leaks don’t wash into area water supplies.
■ Neuter your pets to help reduce pet overpopulation and
dispose of your pet’s waste properly, using a “pooper scooper”
or “mutt mitt.”
■ If you have a septic system, have it inspected and
maintained on a regular schedule.
■ Conserve your own water use, especially in lawn and
landscape irrigation.
Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance
The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance is a growing coalition of local and regional organizations working
cooperatively to implement the Edwards Aquifer Protection Plan. Please contact us at, or send donations
to, 530 Donaldson, San Antonio, TX 78201, www.greateredwards.org or contact and support our member
groups directly.
AGUA (Aquifer Guardians in Urban Areas)
www.aquiferguardians.org
530 Donaldson, San Antonio, TX 78201
(210) 732-7262
San Marcos River Foundation
www.sanmarcosriver.org
P.O. Box 1393, San Marcos, TX 78667
(512) 393-3787
Alamo Group of the Sierra Club
www.texas.sierraclub.org/alamo
P.O. Box 6443, San Antonio, TX 78209
(210) 222-8195
Save Our Springs Alliance
www.sosalliance.org
P.O. Box 684881, Austin, TX 78768
(512) 477-2320
Austin Regional Group of the Sierra Club
www.texas.sierraclub.org/austin
P.O. Box 4581, Austin, TX 78765
(512) 891-5392
San Antonio Smart Growth Foundation
www.smartgrowthsa.org
P.O. Box 460545, San Antonio, TX 78246
(210) 534-8801
HaysCAN (Hays Community Action Network)
www.hayscan.org
14034 Robins Run, Austin, TX 78737
(512) 288-4817
Wimberley Valley Watershed Association
www.visitwimberley.com/water
P.O. Box 2534, Wimberley, TX 78676
(512) 847-1582
© 2004, Save Our Springs Alliance. Published by the Save Our Springs Alliance on behalf of the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance. All rights reserved. Graphic design
by Harrison Saunders, maps by Sarah Scott Mitchell and Carl Schmiedeskamp. Special thanks to George P. Mitchell, whose generous support made this map possible.