Final Report on the Flood Debris Project
Download a PDF with the Final Austin Parks and Recreation Department report on the flood debris removal project.
Pool Reopens with Part of South Lawn Restricted
[ March 12, 2011; ] Barton Springs Pool
Resumes Normal Operating Hours
on Saturday, March 12th
Beginning Saturday, March 12th, Barton Springs Pool will resume normal operating hours (5:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. daily; lifeguards on duty 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. daily).
Part of the “South Lawn” will remain fenced-off to allow for newly installed sod to establish. Work to upgrade the mechanical and plumbing systems in the bathhouse will continue, so restroom and shower access will be limited.
For more information, please contact Wayne Simmons at (512) 974-9326.
Please, attend a Joint Committee Barton Springs Pool Grounds Improvement Project
[ March 7, 2011; 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Monday, March 7th, at 6:30 p.m. The location will be the Parks and Recreation Administrative Annex (919 W. 28½ St.) in the Shoal Creek Room.
Agenda:
1) Possible partnership between PARD and Friends Barton Springs Pool (through the Austin Parks Foundation umbrella) to raise funds to move the pool entrance to the Rotunda
2) Discussion on BSP Tree Court: a full deck will damage the trees because of the digging needed for the many piers to support the deck. Brian Larson will present 3 alternatives to the full deck: a) A smaller and “narrower” deck that avoids most of the CRZ of all of the trees in the tree court; b) A “narrow” path that avoids most of the CRZ of all of the trees in the tree court; c) Delaying the tree court until the entrance can be moved to the Rotunda (tying both of these together).
This is not a 60% grounds improvement update.
Report on Trees from Zoila Vega-Marchena
[From bartonsprings@yahoogroups.com archive]
The debris in the cofferdam area was removed, and the crane and rocks will be removed soon. The south hill grounds will be returned to the same condition as when the work started. The trees that were by the path and rocks will be checked for soil compression, and may be soil aerated if necessary to relieve excessive soil compaction. The tree work will be incorporated in the Grounds Improvement plan.
I would imagine that a report on what was accomplished with the gravel bar removal project will be given at the next BSP Joint Committee meeting:
March 7th 6:30pm at the PARD annex (919 W 28 ½ st), agenda same as posted previously today.
Regarding the postings a week ago, about the water puddles by the trees on the soccer fields by the south entrance: The water that was drained from the cofferdam area was pumped into the fenced area on the soccer fields, filtered through the black bags, and released back into the ground. Since it was a lot of water drained at once, the water accumulated on the surface (about an inch or so), similar to when it rains too much. This water dissipated into the ground a few days after. This did not harm the 3 pecans on the soccer fields (one of them is Mother Pecan, the 500 yr. old tree). Pecans are survivors along creeks because they can manage floods. This may even help those 3 pecan trees because they got a deep watering.
By the way, at the start of the project, one the large pecan trees on the south hill had a large branch pruned to provide clearance for the crane path, but this pruning was done under the supervision of Forestry (certified arborist present), and after reviewing the pruning plan with the city arborist (Michael Embesi), who works for a different department (Watershed). The city arborist’s job is to protect trees, and I have the utmost confidence on Michael’s decisions. I checked the day after the pruning was done, and the tree looked fine. I was also told in advance of this pruning, and I thank PARD and Gary for letting me know.
This project has proceeded with PARD staff taking care of the trees as much as they could. I’m sure that this also applies to city’s salamander unit regarding the salamander (and fishes, turtles, and others) as I’ve seen Laurie and the rest of the salamander unit being very involved, and in the water frequently, in spite of the cold weather and lack of water and electricity in the pool.
I thank them all for working hard to protect the trees, salamander and other critters. Thank you all for your good work!
Zoila
Update on Gravel Removal/ Pool Reopening Plans
[From an email from Laurie Dries, Biologist for the City of Austin on bartonsprings@yahoogroups.com]
Gravel removal is not finished yet, although Sunday was a day off for the workers. While the cofferdam frames have been removed, there still are Supersacks (really big sand bags) and sand bags to be removed. I expect this to be finished by the end of this week. After all of the in-water activity associated with the gravel removal is finished, we in the salamander unit will be re-planting the aquatic plants and removing the sediment on the Beach. After we finish those tasks, we can begin normal spring cleaning activities. We will need until March 12th to do all of our work, and we probably won’t finish cleaning the upstream habitat of the fissures. Also, don’t forget that bathhouse repair work is still ongoing. We don’t have running water or electricity yet, and we need to electricity to power the submersible pumps we use for cleaning salamander habitat. All of these reasons lead me to expect that salamander habitat will not look as good as it normally does after spring cleaning. Despite the obstacles, the salamander group and I are doing the very best we can during the project to keep it on schedule and do the annual cleaning y’all expect.
Since I don’t know much about the bath house repairs, I suggest contacting Tom Nelson or Gary Gregson to get more information.
tom.nelson@ci.austin.tx.us
gary.gregson@ci.austin.tx.us
Thanks for your patience and concern for Barton Springs. I’ve got to get back to the Pool deck to make sure one of the Supersacks doesn’t break and dump piles of sand into the Pool…..
Cheers,
Laurie
Big Dredge Awaits Permits
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has written their Biological Opinion and sent it to the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) a couple of weeks ago (they, FWS, actually finished it before their Nov. 21 deadline), according to Laurie Dries, biologist for the City of Austin.
Now, we are waiting for the ACOE to incorporate the Biological Opinion into their documents and send a permit to the City and Texas Parks and Wildlife. I [Laurie] don’t know if ACOE has a hard deadline for sending the permit, but I’ll check with David Johns, he is handling the ACOE permitting process for this project.
City Council Approves Funding for Removal of Gravel
Robin Cravey of FBSP reported that today the City Council approved funding for removal of gravel on the bottom of the pool. No mention was mentioned of exactly how many weeks and when the pool will be closed, what the cost will be or how it will affect the plants. This information can not be easily found on the City of Austin’s website. One PDF says $500,000 for gravel removal & master planning.
“The solutions are the problem.” says Peter Steinhardt
On July 28, via the public discussion group email list, BartonSprings@Yahoogroups.com, City of Austin biologist Laurie Dries was questioned by Peter Steinhardt about why she isn’t screaming in protest of the plans to dig out the bottom of Barton Springs Pool. He has not received a response as of the date of this posting (8/9/2010) and sent repeated requests for one.
Laurie,
You have been swallowed by an egotistical, blind engineering trust.
The solutions are the problem.
Are these good ideas?
Dig out all the fauna in the pool now while it is at its most robust moment.
Remove the strata that it grows in.
Change the flow and force of the water.
Deliver the habitat to an engineering frenzy sponsored by a huge downturn in the economy.
Use the salamander to brand wasteful spending environmentally responsible.
Stall maintenance until there are less alternatives.
Trade common sense for political gain.
I offer you a much easier plan to protect the pool, the salamander, the budget, the swimmers and common sense.
Dont do anything regarding the gravel bar. Leave it alone. Do not spend the money now. Study the robustness of the pool. Learn from the success of something. Something you have not figured out yet.
The gravel bar can languish another five years and then be removed if the floods dont scour it out one year. The pool does not need the trauma of construction about to be set upon it.
You seem to have been lulled by something that has a history of never being what it is represented to be.
What will happen if the crane or huge aggregate truck fall in the pool?
What will be the effect if you cannot keep the fauna alive or it does not transplant as you would like it to?
What if the dewatering causes catastrophic pollution, degradation or destruction of the salamander?
When will we have another time to study this robustness if they make a mess of it?
Has there ever been a construction project in Barton Springs that was completed on time and without significant unplanned difficulties?
Will you be the one we turn to when an explanation is needed because it just did not turnout as they told you it would?
You like to believe things will work out the way you want them to, but there is not enough caution in your words to warrant my trusting them.
Why are there so many secrets in the process? There has never been an answer to the simple questions of;
Why not wait?
Why not go slowly and have the discussion about new or modified dams?
Why not vacuum again and not worry about the larger gravel?
Why not develop a solution that matches the problem take some out every year?
Laurie, please dont go along with this tasteless desire to do the project?
let’s not forget that Barton Springs is a precious natural
swimming hole, plants are part of that system. We humans didn’t create
the springs, we share the springs with Nature. Plants in Barton
Springs means life or death for a variety of wildlife; they are merely
an inconvenience for us who swim around them. Nature is dynamic,
always changing. Now there is a great abundance of plants; in the
future, floods will rip them out and carry them away. Anyone that
doesn’t want to swim with Nature has numerous swimming pools all over
Austin to choose from, where plants and other wildlife can be avoided. [Peter Steinhardt] quoted from Lauries last email__________________________
Peter Steinhardt__________________________
Peter Steinhardt
Steinhardt & co
4518 Apache Pass
Austin, Texas 78745
office 512-443-2410
mobile 512-762-2646
You have been swallowed by an egotistical, blind engineering trust.
The solutions are the problem.
Are these good ideas?
Dig out all the fauna in the pool now while it is at its most robust moment.
Remove the strata that it grows in.
Change the flow and force of the water.
Deliver the habitat to an engineering frenzy sponsored by a huge downturn in the economy.
Use the salamander to brand wasteful spending environmentally responsible.
Stall maintenance until there are less alternatives.
Trade common sense for political gain.
I offer you a much easier plan to protect the pool, the salamander, the budget, the swimmers and common sense.
Dont do anything regarding the gravel bar. Leave it alone. Do not spend the money now. Study the robustness of the pool. Learn from the success of something. Something you have not figured out yet.
The gravel bar can languish another five years and then be removed if the floods dont scour it out one year. The pool does not need the trauma of construction about to be set upon it.
You seem to have been lulled by something that has a history of never being what it is represented to be.
What will happen if the crane or huge aggregate truck fall in the pool?
What will be the effect if you cannot keep the fauna alive or it does not transplant as you would like it to?
What if the dewatering causes catastrophic pollution, degradation or destruction of the salamander?
When will we have another time to study this robustness if they make a mess of it?
Has there ever been a construction project in Barton Springs that was completed on time and without significant unplanned difficulties?
Will you be the one we turn to when an explanation is needed because it just did not turnout as they told you it would?
You like to believe things will work out the way you want them to, but there is not enough caution in your words to warrant my trusting them.
Why are there so many secrets in the process? There has never been an answer to the simple questions of;
Why not wait?
Why not go slowly and have the discussion about new or modified dams?
Why not vacuum again and not worry about the larger gravel?
Why not develop a solution that matches the problem take some out every year?
Laurie, please dont go along with this tasteless desire to do the project?
let’s not forget that Barton Springs is a precious natural
swimming hole, plants are part of that system. We humans didn’t create
the springs, we share the springs with Nature. Plants in Barton
Springs means life or death for a variety of wildlife; they are merely
an inconvenience for us who swim around them. Nature is dynamic,
always changing. Now there is a great abundance of plants; in the
future, floods will rip them out and carry them away. Anyone that
doesn’t want to swim with Nature has numerous swimming pools all over
Austin to choose from, where plants and other wildlife can be avoided. [Peter Steinhardt] quoted from Lauries last email
__________________________
Peter Steinhardt
__________________________
Peter Steinhardt
Steinhardt & co
4518 Apache Pass
Austin, Texas 78745
office 512-443-2410
mobile 512-762-2646Laurie,
You have been swallowed by an egotistical, blind engineering trust.
The solutions are the problem.
Are these good ideas?
Dig out all the fauna in the pool now while it is at its most robust moment.
Remove the strata that it grows in.
Change the flow and force of the water.
Deliver the habitat to an engineering frenzy sponsored by a huge downturn in the economy.
Use the salamander to brand wasteful spending environmentally responsible.
Stall maintenance until there are less alternatives.
Trade common sense for political gain.
I offer you a much easier plan to protect the pool, the salamander, the budget, the swimmers and common sense.
Dont do anything regarding the gravel bar. Leave it alone. Do not spend the money now. Study the robustness of the pool. Learn from the success of something. Something you have not figured out yet.
The gravel bar can languish another five years and then be removed if the floods dont scour it out one year. The pool does not need the trauma of construction about to be set upon it.
You seem to have been lulled by something that has a history of never being what it is represented to be.
What will happen if the crane or huge aggregate truck fall in the pool?
What will be the effect if you cannot keep the fauna alive or it does not transplant as you would like it to?
What if the dewatering causes catastrophic pollution, degradation or destruction of the salamander?
When will we have another time to study this robustness if they make a mess of it?
Has there ever been a construction project in Barton Springs that was completed on time and without significant unplanned difficulties?
Will you be the one we turn to when an explanation is needed because it just did not turnout as they told you it would?
You like to believe things will work out the way you want them to, but there is not enough caution in your words to warrant my trusting them.
Why are there so many secrets in the process? There has never been an answer to the simple questions of;
Why not wait?
Why not go slowly and have the discussion about new or modified dams?
Why not vacuum again and not worry about the larger gravel?
Why not develop a solution that matches the problem take some out every year?
Laurie, please dont go along with this tasteless desire to do the project?
let’s not forget that Barton Springs is a precious natural
swimming hole, plants are part of that system. We humans didn’t create
the springs, we share the springs with Nature. Plants in Barton
Springs means life or death for a variety of wildlife; they are merely
an inconvenience for us who swim around them. Nature is dynamic,
always changing. Now there is a great abundance of plants; in the
future, floods will rip them out and carry them away. Anyone that
doesn’t want to swim with Nature has numerous swimming pools all over
Austin to choose from, where plants and other wildlife can be avoided. [Peter Steinhardt] quoted from Lauries last email
__________________________
Peter Steinhardt
__________________________
Peter Steinhardt
Steinhardt & co
4518 Apache Pass
Austin, Texas 78745
office 512-443-2410
mobile 512-762-2646Laurie,
You have been swallowed by an egotistical, blind engineering trust.
The solutions are the problem.
Are these good ideas?
Dig out all the fauna in the pool now while it is at its most robust moment.
Remove the strata that it grows in.
Change the flow and force of the water.
Deliver the habitat to an engineering frenzy sponsored by a huge downturn in the economy.
Use the salamander to brand wasteful spending environmentally responsible.
Stall maintenance until there are less alternatives.
Trade common sense for political gain.
I offer you a much easier plan to protect the pool, the salamander, the budget, the swimmers and common sense.
Dont do anything regarding the gravel bar. Leave it alone. Do not spend the money now. Study the robustness of the pool. Learn from the success of something. Something you have not figured out yet.
The gravel bar can languish another five years and then be removed if the floods dont scour it out one year. The pool does not need the trauma of construction about to be set upon it.
You seem to have been lulled by something that has a history of never being what it is represented to be.
What will happen if the crane or huge aggregate truck fall in the pool?
What will be the effect if you cannot keep the fauna alive or it does not transplant as you would like it to?
What if the dewatering causes catastrophic pollution, degradation or destruction of the salamander?
When will we have another time to study this robustness if they make a mess of it?
Has there ever been a construction project in Barton Springs that was completed on time and without significant unplanned difficulties?
Will you be the one we turn to when an explanation is needed because it just did not turnout as they told you it would?
You like to believe things will work out the way you want them to, but there is not enough caution in your words to warrant my trusting them.
Why are there so many secrets in the process? There has never been an answer to the simple questions of;
Why not wait?
Why not go slowly and have the discussion about new or modified dams?
Why not vacuum again and not worry about the larger gravel?
Why not develop a solution that matches the problem take some out every year?
Laurie, please dont go along with this tasteless desire to do the project?
let’s not forget that Barton Springs is a precious natural
swimming hole, plants are part of that system. We humans didn’t create
the springs, we share the springs with Nature. Plants in Barton
Springs means life or death for a variety of wildlife; they are merely
an inconvenience for us who swim around them. Nature is dynamic,
always changing. Now there is a great abundance of plants; in the
future, floods will rip them out and carry them away. Anyone that
doesn’t want to swim with Nature has numerous swimming pools all over
Austin to choose from, where plants and other wildlife can be avoided. [Peter Steinhardt] quoted from Lauries last email
__________________________
Peter Steinhardt
__________________________
Peter Steinhardt
Steinhardt & co
4518 Apache Pass
Austin, Texas 78745
office 512-443-2410
mobile 512-762-2646
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