HOW RAINFALL IMPACTS WATER QUALITY IN BARTON SPRINGS, AUSTIN, TX

Rainfall, surface water bodies, and groundwater are important components of aquatic ecosystems and human societies This study focuses on Barton Creek, which is a 7.9-mile-long creek, and the spring-fed Barton Springs Pool, which are valuable water resources for recreation and water supply in the Austin, TX area. Both Barton Springs and Barton Creek are monitored by The United States Geological Survey gauging stations as well as the city of Austin. Properties of the water such as pH, conductivity, temperature, E.coli, and dissolved oxygen provide information about water quality. By comparing annual precipitation gathered by the National Weather Service from 2014-2021 with the rainfall data from the same time period, we characterized relationships between rainfall and the water quality in Barton Creek and Barton Springs. The data shows higher levels of dissolved oxygen in the water at lower water temperatures and higher conductivity levels at warmer water temperatures. Our findings show increases in pH, conductivity, E.coli, and dissolved oxygen values, are associated with increases in rainfall. These results suggest that the water quality of Barton Springs and Barton Creek is dependent on rainfall amount and is likely to be impacted by future changes in climate in the Austin area.

Year	Rainfall (in)	pH	Conductivity (µs/cm)	Temperature °C	E.Coli (CFU/100 mL)	Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)
2014	35.53	7.15	634.17	21	132.3	6.63
2015	59.96	7.26	651.25	19.69	156.9	7.04
2016	38.85	7.07	625	23.43	208.3	5.42
2017	34.72	6.78	635.38	21.57	45.9	6.33
2018	40.52	6.5	655	21	165.9	5.6
2019	31.86	7.2	636.67	21.2	53.67	6.1
2020	35.08	7	660	21.25	7.137	6.85
2021	37.73	7.25	614	22.5	73.67	6.89