A seven-month rainfall deficit and dry creek beds have forced managers at the Edwards aquifer to impose a drought alarm.
Users who draw their water from the aquifer have been asked to immediately lower their water consumption by 20 percent. The aquifer is fed by rainwater and creeks around south Travis County and northern Hays County.
The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District declared an alarm stage drought effective Monday. Buda and Kyle are the most affected as the primary users of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer.
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Drought conditions
News 8 Austin's Amy Hadley reports from Barton Springs.
 
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"We're worried about it. There's not an imminent danger now of groundwater levels going below pumps or the aquifer going dry. The aquifer is in a stress condition because we didn't get the fall rains. If we don't get spring rains, the climate out look is not favorable for spring rains," Edwards Aquifer General Manager Kirk Holland said.
Unless the aquifer gets those spring rains, managers could advance to a critical drought alert. Holland said this is the first alarm stage drought in six years.
