Integrated Watershed Breakout Session
Headwaters and Hillslopes

Attendees:
Jim Bergan, Texas Nature Conservancy
Tom Hegemier, Lower Colorado River Authority
Eric James, UT Geological Sciences
David Johns, City of Austin Watershed Protection Department
Carol Henderson, UT student
Mike Lyday, City of Austin Watershed Protection Department
John McCray, UT Geological Sciences
Pat Richardson, UT Integrative Biology
Allan Standen, Daniel B. Stephens and Assoc.
Yuli Suharnoto, Texas A&M University, Geospatial Hydrology Group
Libby Stern, UT Geological Sciences
Liang Yang, UT Geological Sciences

Visiting participants provided a brief introduction to their interests and current work.
Tom Hegemier discussed his interest in the efficacy of buffer zones
Mike Lyday, management of city of Austin wetlands
David Johns, management of city of Austin wetlands, springs and caves. David also expressed an interest in the effects of buffer zones.
Jim Bergan outlined Nature Conservancy work to define priorities for ecosystem protection through land acquisition and conservation in Texas ecoregions.
Yuli Suharnoto noted his work with the Army Corps of Engineers on the Guadalupe River

The participants talked about a wide range of water-related topics. Several themes came to the forefront.

1. Many of the participants had an interest in urban hydrology and hydrogeology. Studies of water and pollutants in urban environments would interest this sub-group.

2. The interest in urban topics was coupled with curiosity about the efficacy of buffer zones around creek, springs, wetlands, sinkholes, and caves in urban and suburban environments. It was noted that engineered systems to treat run-off water were the subject of many studies to determine how pollutants were captured or destroyed, but that the similar use of natural buffer zones has not been studied.

3. The effects of changes in water and land use in upland areas as it affects quantity and quality of water that eventually finds its way to deep aquifer is a topic of interest.

4. Collaborative field trips were or great interest and could serve to address topics in urban hydrology and the role of buffers. John McCray, David Johns, and Tom Hegemier agreed to organize some half-day field trips to involve UT researchers and students with City of Austin and LCRA researchers at interesting, nearby sites

5. The dollar valuation of ecological services was discussed as a potential means of communicating the importance of protected areas to the public and elected officials. The difficulty of this approach appears to lay in the methodology of determining value. Examples of simple economic valuation such as turf buy-back plans in Las Vegas, Nevada and Austin's tree replacement ordinance were noted.

6. At larger, non-urban, scales, like those encountered by the Nature Conservancy, prioritization of actions have been aimed at diminishing the "Killer Threat" to a particular ecosystem. The high endemism of Edwards Plateau systems coupled with limited resources for eliminating threats makes this the logical approach.