Find out how San Antonio mayor Phil Hardberger and Texas landowner Wright Friday came together to protect the Edwards Aquifer in San Antonio and read more about water conservation success in Austin. Download Texas Conservation Milestones print version (914kb).   Texas Conservation Milestones Home Protecting the Edwards Aquifer Restoring a Gulf Coast Treasure Saving the Attwater's Prairie Chicken from Extinction Richard Garriott: Conservationist, Space Traveler Balancing Energy and Conservation Yoakum Dunes Preserve A New Trail Showcases an Old-Growth Forest Conservation from Caddo Lake to the Lower Brazos River A New Home for Conservation in Texas Dick Bartlett: An Unparalleled Legacy Our Supporters

The Edwards Aquifer is one of the most important water resources in Texas. In 2008, the Conservancy’s continued partnerships with the cities of Austin and San Antonio helped conserve tens of thousands of acres of land within the aquifer’s recharge zone and, in the process, helped protect water that residents of Austin, San Antonio and much of the Hill Country rely upon.

In March, the Conservancy helped the city of Austin in protecting more than 3,000 acres of land in the Barton Springs Recharge Zone. Located in north-central Hays County, the protected land contains numerous caves, sinkholes, seeps and other important recharge features that benefit people and plants and animals in the region.

Using $30 million from voter-approved bonds, the city purchased 1,500 acres and acquired a conservation easement on an additional 1,558 acres that restricts development on the property. Believed to be the largest single conservation investment in Austin’s history, the purchase will help conserve water in the Barton Springs watershed while also providing excellent habitat for endangered golden-cheeked warblers and potential habitat for endangered black-capped vireos.

In November, the Conservancy helped the city of San Antonio secure two conservation easements in Uvalde County totaling more than 20,000 acres within the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone west of the city. The city purchased conservation easements on the 14,326-acre Frio Ranch, owned by former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe and his wife, Janey, and the 7,273-acre Friday Ranch, owned by Wright and Suzanne Friday. The new easements will help protect a number of important water resources, including the Nueces, Dry Frio and Leona rivers, as well as Deep Creek and Rocky Creek.

The Conservancy has been working with the city of San Antonio since 2000 to acquire properties for land and water conservation. Since the creation of the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, the Conservancy — along with partners such as the Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas (formerly Bexar Land Trust) and the Trust for Public Land — has helped San Antonians protect more than 76,000 acres of aquifer recharge land.

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Nature picture credits (left to right, top to bottom): Photo © Rebecca Flack/TNC (Frio River); Photo © Lynn Mc Bride/TNC (San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger and Texas landowner Wright Friday); Photo © Austin Business Journal (Laura Huffman); Photo © Rebecca Flack/TNC (Frio River); Photo © Danny White/TNC (Oysters); Photo © Clay Carrington/TNC (Attwater's prairie chicken); Photo © Will van Overbeek (Richard Garriott); Photo © David A. Williams (prairie grass); Photo © Janet Haas (pronghorn); Photo © TNC (Lennox Woods Preserve); Photo © Lynn Mc Bride/TNC (Caddo Lake); Photo © Insite Architects (Pearl Brewery Design); Photo courtesy of Dick Bartlett (Dick Bartlett); Edwards Aquifer video courtesy of The Nature Conservancy.